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The Building of a Dam: Value Conflicts in Public Decision-Making

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Costa
  • José Castro Caldas
  • Ricardo Coelho
  • Maria De FáTima Ferreiro
  • Vasco Gonçalves

Abstract

Public decisions concerning large projects with detrimental environmental or heritage impacts involve value conflicts which stem from the diverse interests and variety of ways of evaluating the costs and benefits of such projects. They are also framed by institutionalised procedures and practices which favour certain concerns to the detriment of others. This paper aims to contribute towards a better understanding of how these procedures and practices, namely decision support tools such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), tend to shape public decision-making processes in particular ways. It draws on a study of the public controversy surrounding the Foz Tua dam in Portugal, with a focus on the values upheld by the different parties in the controversy and their interplay in the production of justifications, specifically the actors’ positions on values and value conflicts and the restrictions posed by institutionalised public decision-making procedures on the expression and consideration of certain values.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Costa & José Castro Caldas & Ricardo Coelho & Maria De FáTima Ferreiro & Vasco Gonçalves, 2016. "The Building of a Dam: Value Conflicts in Public Decision-Making," Environmental Values, , vol. 25(2), pages 215-234, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envval:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:215-234
    DOI: 10.3197/096327116X14552114338909
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hirschman, Albert O., 1985. "Against Parsimony: Three Easy Ways of Complicating some Categories of Economic Discourse," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 7-21, April.
    2. Ferreiro, Maria de Fátima & Gonçalves, Maria Eduarda & Costa, Ana, 2013. "Conflicting values and public decision: The Foz Côa case," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 129-135.
    3. Nussbaum, Martha C, 2000. "The Costs of Tragedy: Some Moral Limits of Cost-Benefit Analysis," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(2), pages 1005-1036, June.
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