Site Fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West. By Daniel P. Aldrich. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2008. 254p. $39.95.

Extract

The popular slogan NIMBY—Not in My Back Yard—captures a classic dilemma that confronts policymakers: Although society as a whole requires certain basic public goods, such as energy supplies, improved infrastructure, and transportation hubs, individual communities are often unwilling to bear the localized costs and externalities of hosting these installations. In this fresh, insightful, and creative study, Daniel Aldrich explores the ways in which states decide to site controversial facilities and the types of instruments that public agencies employ to respond to societal opposition against these siting decisions.