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The question this paper addresses is whether and, if so, to what extent can existing IR theories of high politics decision making be applied to low politics issue areas, specifically international environmental policy. The paper considers three individual level theories: Prospect Theory, Political and Policy Risk Theory and Poliheuristic Theory. Each is applied to two case studies, The Montreal Protocol and The Kyoto Protocol, to test its ability to explain the decision-making processes of United States presidents. The climate change case study is most illustrative, either for or against the applicability of a theory, as the risks presidents faced were greater. The paper concludes that none of the applications lend full support to any of the theories. At the same time, none of them completely invalidate the theories either. Of the three, Political and Policy Risk Theory shows the most promise, while the analysis of Prospect Theory reveals some weaknesses in its applicability and the results of the application of Poliheuristic Theory fall somewhere in between. The findings suggest that foreign policy analysis theories may be best able to explain international environmental policy choices if they can capture the complexity of the issue, better define risk and allow for more human agency in terms of personal preferences and belief systems. In general, the applications to environmental policy suggest that the three theories could be adjusted or amended to become better generalizable to different policy areas. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precautionary principle, in its broadest context, rejects the assimilative capacity concept. The assimilative capacity concept suggests that science can accurately predict threats to the environment and identify technical possibilities to mitigate threats once they have been accurately predicted. Empirical evidence mounting that scientists often are unable to accurately predict the carrying capacity of ecosystems or the resilience of species in the face of anthropocentric assaults. Moreover, in an era marked by potential environmental crises of cataclysmic proportions, e.g. climate change and extinction spasms of unprecedented magnitudes, policy makers have become increasingly risk averse. As a consequence, many international environmental agreements drafted in recent years contain precautionary principle provisions. Parties to several other treaty regimes have also interpreted their treaties to be guided by the principle even when the principle is not made explicit in its text. Unfortunately, most incarnations of the precautionary principle remain, as one scholar recently observed, “little more than sound bites, sowing confusion and failing to contribute to meaningful protection of the environment.” This paper will (1) provide a history of the development of the precautionary principle and the underlying rationale for the principle; (2) examine the contours of the precautionary principle as developed in the context of multilateral environmental agreements; (3) discuss the ambiguities that inhere to most applications of the precautionary principle; and (4) suggest methods to operationalize the precautionary principle so as to provide clear guidelines for policymakers and regulators and to ensure effective application in multilateral environmental regimes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interrelated nature of science, power and culture is subject to a ?conceptual silence? in common discourses related to science and politics in general and in large segments of the social sciences. International relations literature is no exception: this literature as well gives scant attention to the issue of legitimacy, and in particular the role of scientific legitimacy in global environmental politics. Instead, the ?erosion-of-sovereignty? literature has tended to focus on the issues of autonomy and control, categories that are less mediated by perception and hence easier objects of study for international relations scholars (ibid.). These silences in the social science literature about the challenge science poses to state control are startling given that science is a prime, powerful and persistent factor effecting transformation within and between nations. This paper seeks to fill some of these gaps through a case study of Brazil, with central focus on national anxieties in relationship to the Amazon and international science. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social scientists have often simplified reality to make it more explicable. They have done this in part through privileging method over the subject matter, and in privileging ontological types (like states) over actual actors . Such simplification has pr ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressing global environmental problems such as climate change lead states to attempt to coordinate efforts to address the issue through the establishment of multilateral environmental agreements. While many studies highlight the lack of strength and relat ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]