APPROACHING REGIMES - AUSTRALIA, CANADA, AND ENVIRONMENTAL-POLICY

Study of regimes has become an increasingly important feature of empirical studies of the bases of world order. Much research has focused on the dynamics and internal working of regimes in a number of different policy areas. The determinants of the approaches of states to regimes, however, have been relatively neglected. Using findings from Australian and Canadian approaches to the international environmental regime, this paper explores seven sets of factors that are argued to be crucial to understanding responses: the ecological-economic millieu of states, the developmental attributes of a regime, bureaucratic politics within national governments, the influence of governmental structures such as federalism, interest group activity, the foreign policy orientations of states, and the regime capabilities of states. Regimes are an enduring feature of international society, but neglect of the complexity and variety of national approaches can lead to ineffectual policy recommendations.