Toward SuSTainabiliTy: The roleS and limiTaTionS of ... - Resolve

Chapter 2: Actors – Government 36Drivers of GovernmentInvolvementDifferent social science disciplines apply differenttheories to describe why institutions engage inpublic policy. For the purposes of this section,we simplify this thinking into three broad categoriesof drivers: (1) strategic or self-interest (itbenefits the government agency to participate)(2) values (participation is consistent with thevalues espoused by the agency and its staff) and(3) norms (the cultural pattern of behavior orexpectations supports certification) (Cashore,2002; Suchman, 1995).Strategic or Self-InterestGiven the increasing globalization of trade,the focus on free markets as solutions to society’sproblems, and the accompanying failureof governments to adopt “hard” regulations,some governments have embraced certificationschemes as a way to achieve public policy objectivesstrategically. Unable or unwilling to usetraditional command-and-control tools in the newglobal culture, agencies seem to embrace the pathof least resistance springing up around them:private governance mechanisms. Certificationmight be a particularly attractive option becauseit requires verification by a third party, providinga compliance component that is normally part ofgovernment’s purview. Even when certificationsystems are public (that is, created by government)rather than private, they adopt the philosophyof private systems, namely, relying on voluntaryparticipation in response to market pressuresrather than the coercive power of government.The voluntary nature of certification schemes isconsistent with the idea of “captured” agencies,in which, because of political pressures, regulatoryagencies are considered more responsive tothe desires of the industries they are purportedto regulate than they are to their social welfaremission.According to Müller (2002), many policy makersand politicians around the world support certificationbecause they recognize it as less controversialthan other policy tools such as taxes or bindingregulations, and therefore easier to adopt. Manyalso believe that private certification may allowgreater flexibility for innovation than governmentscan provide, and they see certification as a selfsustainingsystem requiring few public resources.Developing countries with fewer resources (suchas expertise and funding) to develop robustregulatory regimes may find private certificationparticularly attractive as a way to open orretain markets in developed countries for theirown countries’ products. In short, many considercertification systems an option that allows governmentagencies to avoid controversy amongpowerful political players, be more effective, andspend less money—all outcomes that promotean agency’s self-interest.ValuesBut strategic drivers alone cannot fully explainthe emergence and promotion of certificationsystems (Bartley, 2007b; Bernstein & Cashore,2007). Not all agency action is based on industry“capture,” and environmental and socialissues inherently reflect values of some kind.Ideologies and approaches may differ, but at itscore the mission of environmental agencies isvalue-laden. The people who work for these agenciestypically share those values and promotegovernment efforts that advance them. Thosevalues may include conservation, public health,sustainability, international recognition, expandingmarkets, or economic development, amongothers. Regardless, agencies have missions, andcertification schemes may help them fulfill thosemissions, particularly if politicians and industriesthwart traditional regulatory approaches or budgetsare limited. Carey and Guttenstein (2008)note that governments can find it easier to meettheir goals and adopt widely recognized internationalstandards by drawing on the structureprovided by private schemes rather than trying tocreate requirements in-house.NormsMoreover, all institutions—perhaps democraticgovernments in particular—operate withina broad context of social values and normsToward Sustainability: The Roles and Limitations of Certification