Transboundary environmental issues concerning transportation of hazardous wastes, air pollution, whaling, Antarctica, depletion of the ozone layer, migratory birds, ocean dumping and pollution, global climate change, nuclear testing, endangered species, and conservation of biodiversity have all been the subject of international agreements.  Development of international agreements on environmental issues will be examined.  Obstacles and incentives to negotiating effective agreements inherent in the nature of the global political system, the role of the United Nations, nationalism, sovereignty, the North-South conflict and the role of non-governmental organizations are addressed, with special consideration of the U.N. Conference on the Human Environment (1972) and the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (1992).

Required Texts:  [check out campusbookswap.com for used book price; maybe save money?]

Pamela Chasek, David L. Downie, & Janet Brown. Global Environmental Politics 4th ed. (2006).
[in Reading Assignments: CD&B]
Lawrence E. Susskind, Environmental Diplomacy (1994).

Course Requirements:

There will be a book review, a research reference list, a research paper, a mid-term and a final exam.  Expect to get some practice doing library research and writing for this class.  Be prepared to discuss the readings on dates assigned.  I may ask you questions about the readings.  Class discussion will earn extra credit for otherwise marginal grades.

A final grade will be determined as follows:

          Book review                         200 points
          Mid-term                              200 points
          Final exam                            200 points
          Term paper reference list      100 points
          Term paper                          300 points
                                                    1000 points = 100% of grade

The term paper will afford an opportunity to do an in-depth investigation of one environmental agreement in an area of your choice, such as global climate change, endangered species, transboundary transportation of hazardous waste, etc.  The objective will be for you to prepare a case-study of how an environmental problem was treated in some international agreement selected from a list in the required text.  You will need to find and read the treaty itself, and what others have written about its successes and shortcomings.  I will expect to see your well-informed and carefully reasoned opinions about the result.  One-sided diatribes are not acceptable.  Thoughtful evaluations will be appreciated.

A book review of approximately 4-5 typewritten pages is due February 5, before the research paper or Reference List (see dates in reading list below).  The book may also be used in the reference list, and relevant portions of your review may be included in the term paper, if appropriate.  The book must be approved by the instructor and should be relevant to the international environmental agreement that will be the subject of your research paper.  The review should begin with a complete reference to the book, in correct Reference List form (see separate instructions for writing a book review handed out in class), and describe the major thesis and its contribution to our understanding of the subject.  In other words, what did you learn from it that you didn't already know?

A printed (not by hand, please) reference list of at least ten references which may be used in the term paper must be submitted to the instructor in correct citation form by February 26, demonstrating sufficient library research has been done to find required materials.  Include a sample parenthetical reference (author year, page) for each one.  One of these references must be to your chosen agreement in the official compilation of treaties (in the law school library).  For others, early use of Interlibrary Loan is recommended because it takes time to ship materials requested.  Start soon and come to me early with any difficulties you may have locating references, so you will have time to complete the paper.

To earn a passing grade, the paper must be professional in appearance, approximately 15-20 typewritten pages (double-spaced) and must utilize (e.g., refer to it in the text using parenthetical reference form in Style Guide, p. 2, #9) at least ten references not in the assigned readings.  These references must be listed at the end of the paper, as described in the Style Guide p. 2, #10).  If you want a grade better than "C," do more than the minimum.

Read the paragraph above again when you prepare your paper, and take it seriously.  The instructor is the author of Hamilton's First Law of Laziness:  "Anything worth doing is worth doing well...the first time, so it doesn't have to be done a second time."  Learn it well and practice what I preach.  I try to.  It will serve you well throughout your lifetime.

References to books, journal articles and government documents are always preferred in a research paper over news articles or popular news magazines because they are more scholarly; no more than one-third of the references may be interviews or news articles or Internet web sites.  Articles from encyclopedias, Editorial Research Reports or other "digests" are not acceptable.  Emphasize learned, scholarly publications--e.g., does it include references?  If not, its probably not "scholarly."  Knowledge is power:  Scholarship increases credibility of the source, including you as author of your research paper.  That produces a more favorable evaluation by the reader.

See the Political Science Style Guide for correct form for references and format for the paper.  No other citation form is acceptable; deviations from the Style Guide will cost points off your grade.  Pay special attention to Style Guide items 9 and 10.  Be meticulous when you write these references.  It makes you look smarter than you are, which is preferable to the alternative...

Due dates are listed with required readings and must be observed for all assignments.  Late papers will receive significantly lower grades.  All written assignments must be handed in to the instructor on paper on the due date.  Due to unreliability of email, and lack of a budget to print them with, written assignments will NOT be accepted via email.  Handwritten papers are unacceptable.  Papers will be free of typographical, grammatical, and spelling errors, consistent with University standards for English composition.  Neatness will be rewarded.

You must sign up for a research paper on a particular international agreement on a sheet circulated by the instructor by the second week of class--and stick with it to completion.  Changing your mind later works against you.  This assignment will be discussed further in class.

Class meetings will include a mixture of lecture and discussion.  It will be rewarding to keep up with reading assignments.  Exams will be a mixture of multiple-choice and essay questions, giving you some limited choice of which questions to answer.  Expect them to be demanding but reasonable.  Special accommodations may be made in advance for persons wishing to complete exams comprised entirely of essay questions.  Talk to me about it early.

Recommended Supplemental Readings (not required):

Brundtland Commission.  Our Common Future, Report of the World Commission on
     Environment and Development (1987).
John Carroll, ed.  International Environmental Diplomacy:  The Management and
    Resolution of Transboundary Environmental Problems (1988).
Uday Desai, ed.  Ecological Policy and Politics in Developing Countries (1998).
Michael S. Hamilton.  Mining Environmental Policy: Comparing Indonesia and the USA.
     London: Ashgate Publishing (2005), Chapter 9.
Jessica Tuchman Matthews. Preserving the Global Environment:  The Challenge of Shared
     Leadership (1991).
Rogers, Adam. The Earth Summit:  A Planetary Reckoning (1993).
Peter H. Sand, ed.  The Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements (1992).
Jacqueline Vaughn Switzer & Gary Bryner.  Environmental Politics:  Domestic & Global
     Dimensions, 2d ed. (1998).
Caroline F. Thomas.  The Environment in International Relations (1992).

Required Readings (Dates tentative)
                     Topic                                                      Assignment
Jan 15-17:     The Nature of the International System      CD&B, Ch. 1;
                                                                                     Susskind, Ch. 1
Jan 22-24:     Political Actors                                         CD&B, Ch. 2

Jan 29-31:     Development of Environmental Regimes    CD&B, Ch. 3

Feb 5:           BOOK REVIEW DUE (Late papers receive lower grades.  NOT email.)

Feb 5-14:     Global Economic & Development Issues    CD&B, Ch. 4
                                                                                      Review Style Guide #10 for
                                                                                      Reference List.
Feb 19-21    WINTER BREAK (Eradicate cabin fever...)

Feb 26:         REFERENCE LIST DUE (Be meticulous.  It is impressive.)

Feb 26-Mar 6: Weaknesses of Environmental Diplomacy  Susskind, Ch. 2

Mar 11:        MID-TERM (everything to date)

Mar 13-20:  Representation and Voting                          Susskind, Ch. 3

Mar 21 Last day to drop course with automatic W.

Mar 25-27: SPRING BREAK (get away?)

Apr 1-3:     Balancing Science and Politics                     Susskind, Ch. 4
                                                                                     Review Style Guide #9 & 10
                                                                                     for Research Paper.
Apr 8:        RESEARCH PAPER DUE

Apr 8-10:  Issue Linkage                                              Susskind, Ch. 5

Apr 15-17: Monitoring and Enforcement                       Susskind, Ch. 6

Apr 22-24: Reforming Environmental Diplomacy           Susskind, Ch. 7

Apr. 29-May 1: The Future                                          CD&B, Ch. 5

May 8:      FINAL EXAM (everything to date):  Thursday, 8AM, here. Note different time!