This research path seeks to understand better the emergence of international and transnational networks in terms of their legitimacy, authority, and accountability in shaping environmental policy. One collaborative research project is with Steven Bernstein in the Department of political science at the University of Toronto. Our theoretical point of departure is with the current “globalization” and “policy convergence” literatures’ debate as to whether globalization leads to domestic policy convergence and whether that convergence is likely to create “upward” or “downward” pressures regarding environmental, social and labor standards. We argue that much of the debate over globalization occurs because analysts often conflate different non-domestic factors, or focus on particular sources of influence to the exclusion of others. To remedy this problem, we make a distinction between the structural economic forces associated with rising levels of trade, finance and investment (globalization), and the increased activities or influence of transnational actors and international institutions, and the ideas they promote (internationalization). As a result of this distinction we uncovered four distinct pathways through which transnational actors and international institutions influence domestic policy — the use of markets, international rules, normative discourse, and infiltration of domestic policy making processes.

We have since expanded the theoretical framework and empirical analyses, examining the case of Canadian forest policy generally (Bernstein and Cashore 1999; Bernstein and Cashore Forthcoming), environmental policy (Bernstein and Cashore Submitted), and other select examples from different nations (Bernstein and Cashore 2000a). Within this broad framework, I have undertaken extensive research into the influence of North American domestic and international trade rules, including the impact of the Canada-US softwood lumber dispute, and their consequences on forest management policies and environmental politics (See Cashore 1988; Cashore 1996a; Cashore 1996b; Cashore 1997a; Cashore 1998).

A related project with Cristina Balboa (my doctoral student) and Steven Bernstein will address and develop a scheme for analyzing transnational networks, and the ways in which policy making capacity and “autonomy” intersect in these networks and impact local resource use. I am also working with other students in applying the Bernstein and Cashore “internationalization” framework to understand better environmental policy changes in developing countries.

Publications and papers from this project include:

1. Bernstein and Cashore “The International-Domestic Nexus: The Effects of International Trade and Environmental Politics on the Canadian Forest Sector”, for inclusion in Howlett (ed.), Canadian Forest Policy: Regimes, Policy Dynamics and Institutional Adaptations (Toronto: University of Toronto Press: 2002).
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2. “What Should Canada do When the Softwood Lumber Agreement Expires?” Policy issue of the week for policy.ca, and online policy web site. February 7 2001.
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3. Bernstein and Cashore “Globalization, Fourth Paths of Internationalization and Domestic Policy Change: The Case of Eco-forestry Policy Change in British Columbia, Canada” Canadian Journal of Political Science Volume XXXIII: 1 (March): 67-99. (Recently won McMenemy Prize for best article in the 2000 volume)
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4. Bernstein and Cashore “Globalization and Internationalization as Influences on Domestic Policy Change,” in Ted Cohn, Stephen McBride and John Wiseman (eds), Grounding Globalization: Relations and Levels of Power in the Global Era, (London and New York: Macmillan and St. Martin’s Press, 2000)
5. Bernstein and Cashore “Globalization, Internationalization and Liberal Environmentalism: Exploring Non-domestic Sources of Influence on Canadian Environmental Policy”, in Debora L. VanNijnatten and Robert Boardman, (ed.) Canadian Environmental Policy: Ecosystems, Politics and Process (2nd ed.) Oxford University Press. 2001.
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6. Cashore, “An Examination of Why a Long-term Resolution to the Canada/US Softwood Lumber Dispute Eludes Policy Makers”, Canadian Forest Service Pacific Research Station working paper, Working Paper 98.02, Industry, Trade and Economics Program, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, February, 1999 (published as December 1998).
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