ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relation between the institutionalisation of environmental policies and political modernisation from an institutional perspective. To understand the dynamics of the process of political modernization, it distinguishes analytically between four phases of political: 'early', 'anti', 'post' and 'reflexive' political modernisation. The chapter discusses institutionalisation and the phases of political modernization. Institutionalisation is a process of preservation of values and norms, in a structure of rules and resources. Political modernisation refers to processes of transformation within the political domain of Western societies. The phase of 'early political modernisation' is closely linked with the project of modernity itself. Although anti-modernisation theory is the anti-thesis of early modernisation theory, a central element remains belief in the grand narrative of the 'manageable society'. Reflexive modernisation takes up a middle position between early and anti-modemisation on the one hand and post-modernisation on the other. The chapter presents some concluding remarks about the institutionalisation of environmental policies in the nearby future.
