A timely comparative study of state-network interactions in agro-environmental policy-making in the US, Canada, and France.

Citizens of industrialized countries largely share a sense thatnational and international governance is inadequate, believing not onlythat public authorities are incapable of making the right policydecisions, but also that the entire network of state and civil societyactors responsible for the discussion, negotiation, and implementationof policy choices is untrustworthy.

Using agro-environmental policy development in France, the UnitedStates, and Canada as case studies, Éric Montpetit sets out toinvestigate the validity of this distrust through careful attention tothe performance of the relevant policy networks. He concludes thatdistrust in policy networks is, for the most part, misplaced becausehigh levels of performance by policy networks are more common than manypolitical analysts and citizens expect. Opposing the tenets of stateretrenchment, his study reveals that providing participation ingovernance to resourceful interest groups and strong governmentbureaucracies is an essential component of sound environmental policiesfor agriculture.

A timely and crucial contribution to the good governance debate,this book should be required reading for policy makers and politicians,as well as students and scholars of public policy, political science,environmental studies, and government.

"This book is a welcome addition to the environmental policy literature, primarily because it addresses an important gap in our understanding of the relationship among agricultural practices, environmental protection, and public policy. Misplaced Distrust contains a valuable discussion of how France, the United States, and Canada have developed policies to control the negative impacts of agricultural practices on the ecosystem. Perhaps this investigation will inspire other political scientists to conduct additional comparative research in this important policy area." - Persectives on Politics, vol. 3, no. 3