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Presents an event-history analysis of US regulatory reforms in the electric power sector, involving both regulators and legislators from 1993-99; some focus on intergovernmental relations in the policy diffusion process.

Mail survey data collected in 1994 are drawn on to analyze the geographical distribution of environmental group members among the 50 US states, & by zip code within one state (NJ) to check for scale dependence. Variations in explanatory factors across jurisdictions are used to explore correlates of organized environmentalism. Group membership rates show dramatic variation across states, with some convergence over time, & are generally higher in states with better environmental conditions & higher incomes. Membership rates for certain groups correlate well with aggressive state environmental policies. The heterogeneous geography of organized environmentalism is relevant in the decentralized US federal political system. Although measures of activism & attitudes are not directly comparable, this diversity contrasts with data showing homogeneous national environmental attitudes. 2 Tables, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.

Comparative risk projects can provide broad policy guidance but they rarely have adequate scientific foundations to support precise risk rankings. Many extant projects report rankings anyway, with limited attention to uncertainty. Stochastic uncertainty, structural uncertainty, and ignorance are types of incertitude that afflict risk comparisons. The recently completed New Jersey Comparative Risk Project was innovative in trying to acknowledge and accommodate some historically ignored uncertainties in a substantive manner. This article examines the methods used and lessons learned from the New Jersey project. Monte Carlo techniques were used to characterize stochastic uncertainty, and sensitivity analysis helped to manage structural uncertainty. A deliberative process and a sorting technique helped manage ignorance. Key findings are that stochastic rankings can be calculated but they reveal such an alarming degree of imprecision that the rankings are no longer useful, whereas sorting techniques are helpful in spite of uncertainty. A deliberative process is helpful to counter analytical overreaching.