Does the President matter? Presidential environmental performance in the USA and its impact on green groups

Lars Dittmer

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Year: 2008
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9783640162857
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Politics - Region: USA, grade: 1,0, University of Potsdam (Wirtschafts- und sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät), course: Interessenverbände in den USA, language: English, abstract: Preservation in all its facets in the United States stretches back over more than hundred years and over large parts of this period has enjoyed considerable support by public and politics. However, two decades after World War II, "as the nation shifted from an industrial to a postindustrial (or postmaterialist) society" (Vig and Kraft: 9), national environmental groups have redefined their societal position. Organisations that had started as sometimes lose associations of anglers, hikers or birdwatchers, like the Sierra Club or the National Audobon Society, now formulated political stances taking into account a globalising world; after sometimes narrow-minded "Not in my backyard" projects and local initiatives of all kinds now consciousness for global issues like rain forest deforestation and climate warming arose. Preservation became environmentalism. (...) Also the scholar Rik Scarce reports skyrocketing membership figures in the environmental organisations during the Reagan years, a fact that will be highlighted later in this paper (22). It now could seem reasonable to argue that these new conditions were ideal for the movement – a clear enemy, topics that were neglected by the government and a seemingly consistent support from the public – but is that so easy? This term paper wants to find out if patterns of relationships between environmental groups and presidents in the United States exist. The points I will elaborate on in the body of my paper will include membership of the groups, foundation of new groups, radicalisation of the movement and public and financial support. I am basing my research on several assumptions – if a Presidency X fulfils the requirements Y, Z will happen to environmental groups. In the first part I will introduce some of the major organisations and their profiles, also some of the radical associations will be addressed. Also the presidencies and their environmental achievements will be part of my study, however only stretching back until the 1970s. Not all of the presidents will be scrutinised the same way; my focus will be especially on those administrations, whose elections marked clear turning points as to the environmental policies, politics and polities of the United States.