The Influence of Government Executive Forces on Environmental Policy Effectiveness in New Zealand

Lincoln University Digital Thesis Copyright Statement The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: you will use the copy only for the purposes of research or private study you will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of the thesis and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate you will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from the thesis. Inside The Black Box: The Influence of Government Executive Forces on Environmental Policy Effectiveness in New Zealand A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University by Hugh Logan Lincoln University 2013 Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Abstract Inside the Black Box: The Influence of Government Executive Forces on Environmental Policy Effectiveness in New Zealand By Hugh Logan The causes of variation in effectiveness of environmental public policy are subject to debate. Different levels of effectiveness in wider government policy are commonly explained by external influences. Fewer studies focus on the role of factors within the Executive, such as institutional arrangements, differing levels of capability in policy-makers, and ways ideas shape how people and institutions perceive environmental values and issues. This study aims to advance our understanding of how such factors combine to effect environmental policy in a specific national jurisdiction. The research investigates how environmental policy efforts of environmental government departments are influenced by factors within the Executive in New Zealand, and how these factors contribute to variability in environmental policy effectiveness. Drawing on theories about the main drivers of policy change and ideas about environmental policy effectiveness, the thesis puts forward a framework to analyse three case studies of environmental policy development between the 1990s and the late 2000s: oceans policy; biodiversity policy; and water policy. The main finding of the research is that four key intra-government variables are the primary determinants of environmental policy effectiveness in New Zealand. These are: the level of government commitment to environmental values relative to other values; the environmental commitment and capability of ministers holding environmental portfolios; the capability of officials within the environmental departments, notably their ability to provide leadership; and the extent to which environmental departments are organised and equipped to play a lead role in the development of environmental policy. These four variables are interdependent. Government will and the actions of ministers and officials can enable structural change that facilitates environmental organisations to take a leadership role, but where institutions do not allow or facilitate this to happen, environmental policy can be constrained or ineffective even where there is government commitment. From an organisational perspective features that stand out as being most important to enhance environmental policy effectiveness are: ensuring that priority is placed on environmental imperatives in policy design; concentrating effort by reorganising and aligning operating procedures internally in a timely way to focus on the issue at hand; forming close alliances with supportive departments and drawing in opposing departments; and organising to shape and lead the policy process within the machinery of government. Keywords: environmental effectiveness, institutions, environmental departments, environmental policy iii Preface and Acknowledgements Environmental management and governance have been part of much of my professional life: working in and leading the New Zealand Antarctic Programme, natural disaster response and emergency management in the Ministry of Civil Defence, and work with the Department of Conservation (DoC) and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE). From 1997 to 2008 I led the New Zealand Department of Conservation and then the Ministry for the Environment. In these last two roles I worked in the heart of central government in positions from where I was able to participate in and observe the workings of the New Zealand political and bureaucratic system. In the period between 1997 and 2008 environmental management moved from an activity on the periphery of government to where there was some acknowledgement that it was a core role of government. Early on, there was a feeling that environmental management was somewhat small beer compared with the traditional concerns of government about economic development, justice, social cohesion, education, health and defence. This created in MfE and DoC on the one hand a defensive view that the burden of proof for environmental policies was somewhat higher than for other sectors (although in reality this feeling was shared, and expressed, by some other sectors of government, such as those working in the cultural fields of arts and heritage) and, on the other hand, a determination to try harder to argue the case for environmental quality. At another level I observed a somewhat peculiarly formal culture and hierarchy in the senior levels of the public service. This was a very different atmosphere to others I had experienced in public service regional roles, or in life outside the public service. It was a culture bound by formal rules of legislation and the Cabinet Office Manual, and informal rules of relationship management based on an incongruous mix of collegiality and patch protection. Three “central agencies” wielded formal and informal power through the triple headed dynamics of chief executive employment and performance review (State Services Commission), resourcing (Treasury), and politics (The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet). There was an informal hierarchy of chief executives and their departments based on relevance to the immediate policy concerns of the government of the day and perceived long run importance to national interest. The 1990s and early 2000s was also a period when New Zealand’s experiment with a singular neo-liberal approach to public management reached an apogee, and then adapted itself in the face of experience and political scepticism. In that period I participated in a wide range of environmental initiatives: some involved working within existing frameworks and implementing existing policies and procedures; some involved new ideas and new policy. There was the continuous challenge of public and interest group engagement, the challenge to deliver value, and the challenge of departmental management that value delivery iv required. Working in a largely taxpayer funded environment required a high level of public scrutiny and accountability. And, as a public servant dealing with public policy, the influences of politics and political imperatives were ever present. This experience raised for me questions about how environmental policy and implementation was advanced. I witnessed, and participated in, instances where new policies were conceived, designed and achieved, and others where proposed new policies floundered, were compromised, sank or never even emerged. Thus came the focus for this thesis. The idea at the beginning of my research was to investigate what form and mix of central and local government structures might enhance environmentally sustainable outcomes. This was based on a preliminary hypothesis (rooted in an admittedly subjective view drawn from experience over many years) that there were inadequacies in the devolved organisation of New Zealand’s environmental governance caused by issues at an institutional level, and possibly by deep seated constitutional and social/cultural considerations. As I began to delve further into the subject, however, my thinking began to shift onto the workings of central government. Environmental policies were sometimes initiated, and certainly designed, within a political bureaucratic system. That system was responsive, in varying degrees, to the wider forces and interests in society but it also had its own internal dynamics. The more I thought about it, the more those internal dynamics seemed significant in how the government’s environmental departments behaved and performed. These factors together – the working of the political bureaucratic system and the way central government agencies behaved and performed - seemed as important in helping understand how environmental issues are addressed in New Zealand as the structural and organisational issues that had been my original focus. Hence the subject of this thesis: forces within government that influence environmental policy development in New Zealand. I would like to thank a number of people who have been instrumental in encouraging, guiding and cajoling me in this research. First I owe a considerable debt to my primary supervisor, Ton Bührs. Ton has graciously put up with someone coming back into academic studies after nearly thirty years in the public service. This has proved a challenge for me, and I hope not too much of a challenge for Ton. More importantly, Ton has kept me on the straight and narrow and injected an important level of academic rigour in commenting on the various drafts of chapters and sections I have submitted. I would like to thank Ann Brower, as my other supervisor

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