The Challenges of Consensus Building in a Consolidating Democracy- Diesel Vehicles and Urban Air Pollution in Korea

Why do consensus building efforts in a consolidating democracy often fail toresolve regulatory disputes and even escalate them? Dong-Young Kim usesthe three detailed recent case studies of the efforts to balance economicdevelopment and environmental concerns in rapidly industrialized and democratizingKorea. He explores the main obstacles inherent in a consolidatingdemocracy to meeting necessary conditions for successful consensus buildingprocess with a new research framework which incorporates the theory ofnegotiation and consensus building into the theory of policy process. Heshows that dispute resolution efforts initiated by policy entrepreneurs whoare not neutral are likely to fall victims to adversarial power games in politicsrather than genuine consensus building process.'For anyone interested in comparative studies of regulatory negotiationconflict resolution and environmental management this is a major find.'Lawrence Susskind Vice-Chair for Instruction Program on Negotiation atHarvard Law School.'Kim's study is a must read for anyone wishing to understand South Korea'senvironmental policy dilemmas and emerging dispute resolution systems.'Miranda A. Schreurs Director Environmental Policy Research Center andProfessor of Comparative Policies Freie Universität Berlin.