Designing State Clean Air Agencies: Administrative Procedures and Bureaucratic Autonomy

Abstract

This study examines how administrative procedures structure the degree of policy influence different governmental and non-governmental groups exercise in states' air pollution control programs. Drawing on a variety of data, including a unique survey of state air pollution control agencies, our analysis shows that administrative procedures affect the degree of bureaucratic autonomy and level of influence legislatures and interest groups exercise in state air pollution programs. Overall, the results suggest that hardwiring administrative procedures theories may be more accurate than fire alarm theories of legislative oversight.