Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-174) and index.

Ch. 1. Introduction -- Ch. 2. The Conventional Approach to Environmental Policy Studies -- Ch. 3. How Environmental Policy Studies Can Be Used Effectively -- Ch. 4. How Policy Studies Should Be Organized -- Ch. 5. Methods and Roles of Environmental Policy Studies -- Ch. 6. Rethinking the Choice of Methods for Policy Analysis -- Ch. 7. International Perspectives -- App. A. National Academy of Sciences National Research Council Report Review Guidelines. Environmental policy studies commissioned by government agencies or other stakeholders can play a vital role in environmental decisionmaking; they provide much-needed insight into policy options and specific recommendations for action. But the results of even the most rigorous studies are frequently misappropriated or misunderstood and are as likely to confuse an issue as they are to clarify it. Better environmental policy studies explores this problem, as it considers the shortcomings of current approaches to policy studies and presents a pragmatic new approach to the subject. Reviewing five cases that are widely regarded as the most effective policy studies to have been conducted in the United States in the last few decades, the authors present a comprehensive guide to the concepts and methods required for conducting effective policy studies.