Determinants of the Scope and Strength of State Environmental Policy

Abstract

Using bivariate crosstabulation and multivariate regression analysis this study attempted to measure the effects of political factors on the scope and strength of state environmental policy. Political variables included state political culture, interest group strength, partisanship, gubernatorial strength, legislative professionalism, and state innovativeness. Scope and strength of state environmental policy was measured by four dependent variables. The dependent variables measured state initiated policy, federally intitiated policy, per capita spending, and toxic substance control efforts. The dependent variables measuring state initiated and federally initiated policies are new attempts in measuring state environmental policy. They are indices that combine measured characteristics of states' environmental policies in different areas of environmental concern. Overall, the four dependent variables represent a comprehensive attempt to measure environmental policy in the fifty states.