John S. Dryzek - Conflict and Choice in Resource Management: The Case of Alaska

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Conflict and Choice in Resource Management: The Case of Alaska

John S. Dryzek

This book examines the process of policymaking in situations in which the interests, values, and rights of the various actors conflict with one another and suggest contradictory courses of action. Focusing on the problems of resource management in Alaska's coastal and offshore regions, Dr. Dryzek shows how present mechanisms and analytical techniques for reconciling conflict are inadequate. He explores a number of alternatives to improve the conflict resolution capabilities of both political institutions and policy analysts, and recommends changes that would shift concern from the superficial aspects of competing interests to fundamental questions that are more amenable to reasoned debate.

John S. Dryzek is assistant professor of political science at Ohio State University. His research areas include public policy, political economy of resource management, empirical theory and methodology, and comparative politics.

John S. Dryzek

First published 1983 by Westview Press, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Dryzek, John S., 1953
Conflict and choice in resource management.

(A Westview replica edition)
Bibliography p.
1. Natural resources--Government policy--Alaska.
2. Conservation of natural resources--Alaska--Decision
making. I. Title.
HC107.A45D79 1983 333.91'17'09798 8310472

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-02038-5 (hbk)

This is a story that grew in its telling, serving to confirm my belief that questions of conflict and choice in public policy can best be addressed in the context of deliberation over concrete policy problems. What I offer here is a theoretical case study: the argument is grounded in an analysis of natural resource management in Alaska's coastal and offshore region, yet I wish to develop some more theoretical arguments about natural resource management and public policy more generally. This is, of course, the whole point of doing case studies.

Iteration between abstract theoretical archtitecture and the more prosaic details of the Alaskan case is therefore frequent. No attempt has been made to separate chapters into "theory" and "application" - the two will progress in tandem, mirroring the way they developed in my own mind as I grappled simultaneously with the problem of resource management in Alaska and some deeper theoretical questions.

My intention, then, is to examine how one can think about policy choices in natural resource management when values conflict. In order to accomplish this I have probed fairly deeply into just what constitutes a "good reason" for deciding upon or recommending a course of action; and, by extension, just what "reason" can mean in the context of public policy processes. A further goal is therefore to draw some lessons for the practice of policy analysis as an applied social science.

Much of the factual material for this study was gathered during the course of field trips to Alaska in 1979 and 1980. The details have been updated as far as possible, though the pace at which events move will undoubtedly mean that some of them will be outdated by the time this appears in print. Nevertheless, if the case I make is a good one, the relevance of this essay to Alaska should not wane in the foreseeable future. Its applicability to natural resource management and public policy more generally will, I hope, remain.

It is a pleasure to record my appreciation for all the people who have contributed to the development of this study. During the course of my field trips to Alaska I interviewed approximately 90 people, many of whom were connected with federal and state agencies, local governments, Native peoples organizations, oil companies, environmentalist groups, the University of Alaska, public interest organizations, and fishermens associations. To these individuals I owe much of my understanding of Alaska; I would especially like to acknowledge the help of Jane Angvik, Bruce Baker, Pat Dobey, Bill DuBay, Gary Kean, Dave Norton, Hank Pennington, George Rogers, Tom Smythe, and Esther Wunnicke. I also made extensive use of the facilities of the University of Alaska, the North Slope Borough, the U.S. Department of the Interior Alaska Resources Library in Anchorage, the Arctic Environmental Information and Data Center, Fairbanks Environmental Center, and the Alaska State Library. The Earhart Foundation gave me a grant which enabled me to undertake these field trips. Special thanks are due Bonnie Rapoport, without whom a midwinter trip to the Arctic would have been considerably less pleasant.