Partisan Probing and Democratic Decisionmaking Rethinking the Nimby Syndrome

Abstract

In this paper, I focus on Minnesota's unsuccessful attempt to site a hazardous waste stabilization and containment facility, but argue that this should not be seen as another siting failure due to irrational and self‐interested citizens who subverted a well‐conceived and essential disposal facility, Through a detailed comparison of citizen and elite claims about the facility, I show that many of the sources of disagreement between citizens and siting officials involve value trade‐offs rather than technical issues, and contend that state officials’ views on these matters should not take precedence. Through “partisan probing,” citizens actually contribute to effective policymaking rather than detract from it.