The Great Lakes of North America are one of the world’s most important natural resources. The source of vast quantities of fish, shipping lanes, hydroelectric energy, and usable water, they are also increasingly the site of severe environmental degradation and resource contamination. This study analyzes how well governments and other stakeholders are addressing this critical problem.

Using original findings from surveys, interviews, and other documents, Mark Sproule-Jones looks at how various levels of government are attempting to restore the environment in the Great Lakes. He examines successes and failures and identifies the kinds of institutions that promote sound decision making, concluding that bureaucracies charged with constructing these institutions often overlook key design principles.

This analysis, which clearly demonstrates the need for new rules and institutions to address environmental pollution in the Great Lakes, should be required reading for practitioners, politicians, businesspeople, and environmentalists.

Mark Sproule-Jones, professor in the Department of Political Science and the Victor K. Copps Chair of Urban Studies, McMaster University, is the author of a number of books on environmental policy including The Restoration of the Great Lakes.Carolyn Johns is associate professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University where she researches and teaches in the areas of public policy, public administration and environmental policy.B. Timothy Heinmiller is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University where he researches and teaches in the areas of resource management, public policy, and public administration.

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This analysis, which clearly demonstrates the need for new rules and institutions to address environmental pollution in the Great Lakes, should be required reading for practitioners, politicians, business people, and environmentalists.

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education