ABSTRACT
In this chapter I want to investigate the extent to which the development of environmental problems has direct consequences for the role and structure of the state in contemporary society. In the first section I analyse the question of why most discussions of the environmental issue reach the conclusion that increased state interference in society is necessary. In the second section the proposition of William Ophuls that only the erection of an absolute state can protect humanity against a future environmental catastrophe is explored. In the third section, referring to the ideas of the anarchist political thinker Murray Bookchin, the radical green arguments for institutional decentralisation are outlined and the shortcomings inherent to this approach are examined. In the fourth section the three dominant models of ecological change in modern society are discussed. The fifth section deals with the question of what could be the basic principles of an ecological restructuring of western liberal democracy. In particular: what role does the state have to play and what kind of state is best suited to fight current environmental problems effectively? Finally, the main conclusion is drawn.
