Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-15T09:58:13.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public Choice Theory and Natural Resources: Methodological Explication and Critique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 1982

Mark Sproule-Jones
Mark Sproule-Jones*
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article is a methodological examination of public choice analysis, with particular reference to the currently topical policy field of natural resources. It is also a methodological critique of public choice analysis on logical, epistemological, and normative grounds. Its purpose is to make scholars of natural resources management aware of the substantive and methodological features of the public choice approach to the field, and to make public choice scholars and philosophers of science aware of the methodological grounds of the approach.

The so-called hard core of concepts of public choice are first described in relation to the natural resource policy field, and the selection of these hard core concepts, as well as their distinguishing features from political science, economics, and public administration, are justified. The argument is advanced that the hard core is interrelated by the methodological criterion of logical consistency—one interpretation of the notion of rationality—and the criterion accounts for the impetus behind the growth of the paradigm. It is also argued that the paradigm is buttressed and protected from rival approaches at an epistemological level, and it is shown that a variety of epistemologies have been linked to the approach. Finally, I argue that the congruence of public choice with this variety of epistemologies makes many of the criticisms about the normative implications of the approach inaccurate and misleading.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 76 , Issue 4 , December 1982 , pp. 790 - 804
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, R. 1980. Foundations of political analysis. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Ackerman, A.; Ackerman, S. R.; Sawyer, J. W.; and Henderson, D. W. 1974. The uncertain search for environmental quality. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, T. L., and Hill, P. J. 1980. Property rights as a common pool resource. Paper at Public Choice Society meetings, San Francisco, 03.Google Scholar
Bernstein, R. 1975. The restructuring of political and social theory. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Bish, R. L. 1971. The public economy of metropolitan areas. Waco, Tex.: Markham Press.Google Scholar
Bish, R. L., and Ostrom, V. 1973. Understanding urban government. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Google Scholar
Buchanan, J. M. 1959. Positive economics, welfare economics, and political economy. Journal of Law and Economics 2:124–38.10.1086/466556CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, J. M. 1962. The calculus of consent. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Buchanan, J. M., Tollison, R. D., and Tullock, G. ed. 1980. Toward a theory of the rent-seeking society. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.Google Scholar
Buchanan, J. M., and Tullock, G. 1975. Polluter's profits and political response. American Economic Review 65: 139–47.Google Scholar
Coase, R. H. 1960. The problems of social cost. Journal of Law and Economics 3:1–44.10.1086/466560CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, O. A. 1969. Notes on strategy and methodology for a scientific political science. In Mathematical applications in political science IV, ed. Bernd, J. L., pp. 22–38. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.Google Scholar
Downs, A. 1957. An economic theory of democracy. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Dye, T. R., ed. 1979. Symposium on determinants of public policy: cities, states, and nations. Policy Studies Journal 7:652–803.Google Scholar
Friedman, M. 1953. The methodology of positive economics. In essays in positive economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Reprinted in Readings in the philosophy of the social sciences, ed. Brodbeck, May, pp. 508–528. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Frohlich, N., and Oppenheimer, J. A. 1978. Modern political economy. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Giddens, A. 1976. New rules of sociological method. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Golembiewski, R. T. 1977. A critique of “democratic administration” and its supporting ideation. American Political Science Review 71:1488–1507.10.2307/1961491CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregg, P. M. 1974. Units and levels of analysis: a problem of policy analysis in federal systems. Publius 4:59–86.Google Scholar
Hardin, G. 1968. The tragedy of the commons. Science 162:1243–48.10.1126/science.162.3859.1243CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayek, F. A. 1973, 1976, 1979. Law, legislation and liberties, 3 vol. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kekes, J. 1976. A justification of rationality. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Klevoick, A. K., and Kramer, G. H. 1973. Social choice on pollution management: the genossenschaften. Journal of Public Economics 2:101–46.10.1016/0047-2727(73)90001-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kneese, A. V., and Bower, B. T. 1968. Managing water quality. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Lakatos, I. 1974. Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programs. In Criticism and the growth of knowledge, eds. Lakatos, Imre and Musgrave, Allan, pp. 91–196. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Larkin, P. A. 1979. Fisheries management: the coming crisis. In Coastal resources in the future of B.C., ed. Dorcey, A. H. J., pp. 1–12. Westwater Research Centre, University of British Columbia.Google Scholar
Lucas, A. R. 1976. Legal foundations for public participation in environmental decision making. Natural Resources Journal 16:73–102.Google Scholar
McDavid, J. C. 1976. “Crucial testing” for the study of complex institutions. In Problems of theory in policy analysis, ed. Gregg, P. M., pp. 137–148. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath.Google Scholar
Mueller, D. C. 1979. Public choice. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mumy, G. E. 1980. Long run efficiency and property rights sharing for pollution control. Public Choice 35:59–74.10.1007/BF00154749CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niskanen, W. A. Jr. 1971. Bureaucracy and representative government. Hawthorne N.Y.: Aldine-Atherton.Google Scholar
Nozick, R. 1974. Anarchy, state and utopia. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Olson, M. 1965. The logic of collective action. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ostrom, E.; Parks, R. B.; and Whitaker, G. D. 1978. Patterns of metropolitan policing. Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger.Google Scholar
Ostrom, V. 1979. Constitutional level of analysis: problems and prospects. Paper read at Western Political Science Association meeting, 22–24 03.Google Scholar
Ostrom, V. 1980. Artisanship and artifact. Public Administration Review 40:309–317.10.2307/3110256CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, V., and Hennessey, T. 1975. Institutional analysis and design. Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University.Google Scholar
Ostrom, V., and Ostrom, E. 1965. A behavioral approach to the study of intergovernmental relations. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 359:137–46.10.1177/000271626535900115CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, V.; Tiebout, C. M.; and Warren, R. O. 1961. The organization of government in metropolitan areas: a theoretical inquiry. American Political Science Review 55:831–42.10.2307/1952530CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plott, C. R. 1976. Axiomatic social choice theory: an overview and interpretation. American Journal of Political Science 20:511–96.10.2307/2110686CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plott, C. R., and Smith, V. L. Further comments: the application of laboratory experimental methods to public choice. In Collective decision-making: Applications from public choice theory, ed. C. S., Russell, pp. 167–72. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Popper, K. R. 1968. The logic of scientific discovery. Bridgeport, Conn.: Hutchinson.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. A. 1971. A theory of justice. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.10.4159/9780674042605CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riker, W. H., and Ordeshook, P. C. 1973. An introduction to positive political theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Schmid, A. A. 1978. Property, power and public choice. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Smith, V. K., and Krutilla, J. V. 1979. The economics of natural resource scarcity: an interpretive introduction. In Scarcity and growth reconsidered, ed. Smith, V. K., pp. 1–35. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Sproule-Jones, Mark. 1972. Strategic tensions in the scale of political analysis. British Journal of Political Science 2:173–91.10.1017/S0007123400008577CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sproule-Jones, Mark. 1975. Public choice and federalism in Australia and Canada. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar
Sproule-Jones, Mark. 1978a. The social appropriateness of water quality management for the Lower Fraser River. Canadian Public Administration 21:1976–94.10.1111/j.1754-7121.1978.tb01760.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sproule-Jones, Mark. 1978b. Coordination and the management of estuarine water quality. Public Choice 33:41–54.10.1007/BF00123941CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sproule-Jones, Mark. 1979. A fresh look at an old problem: coordinating Canada's shore management agencies. Western Political Quarterly 32:278–85.10.1177/106591297903200305CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sproule-Jones, Mark. 1981. The real world of pollution control. Vancouver: Westwater Research Centre, University of British Columbia.Google Scholar
Sproule-Jones, M., and Hart, K. D. 1973. A public choice model of political participation. Canadian Journal of Political Science 6:175–94.10.1017/S0008423900039639CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroup, R., and Baden, J. 1980. Property rights and natural resource management. Cato Institute.Google Scholar
Tullock, G. 1965. The politics of bureaucracy. Washington, D.C: Public Affairs Press.Google Scholar
Tullock, G. 1967. The welfare costs of tariffs, monopolitics, and theft. Western Economic Journal. 5: 224–32.Google Scholar
Tullock, G. 1971. The cost of transfers. Kyklos 24: 629–43.10.1111/j.1467-6435.1971.tb00624.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, G. R. 1978. Market methods of multiple use reconciliation. Journal of Environmental Management 7:291–96.Google Scholar
Winch, P. 1958. The idea of a social science. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.