Implementing environmental policy in Cuba : an assessment of eco-socialist theory

Abstract

A branch of environmental theory known as eco-socialism posits that socialist political economies incorporate systemic features which better enable them to achieve sustainable environmental management.

This study assesses eco-socialist theories in two steps. The first step is a case study which addresses the question: What are the major factors influencing the implementation of Cuba's new environmental framework law, Law 81? The second step is a comparison of the results of the Cuba case study to two seminal models of policy implementation.

This comparison yields insight into the influence of political economy on sustainable environmental management. It demonstrates that the factors that influence environmental policy implementation in central command economies are similar, with some key differences, to the factors that influence environmental policy implementation in liberal market-based economies.

The results of this study suggest that political economy is not a critical determinant of a society's ability to achieve sustainable environmental management.