Government and Environmental PolicyThe purpose of United States public policy law is to implement restrictions in an effort to solve problems, as exemplified by the Clean Water Act.Public policy was also used to reform the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Although the United States government demonstrates nobility in its efforts to preserve the environment through these acts, the The internal structure of public policy often delays the effectiveness of these acts. This article will explore the many ways in which factors such as horizontal implementation, divided government, and other forms of public policy affect the environmental legislation involved in the aforementioned laws. The main factors involved in the Endangered Species Act of 1973 concern a horizontal implementation structure and divided government. Before we can discuss how these policies affect environmental legislation, a brief description of each must first be lucidly explained. When our government was founded, a system of checks and balances was put in place between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches to ensure that no part of the government gained too much power. While this limits the power of a single person in government, it often slows down government capacity because it can be difficult to achieve consensus with so many people working together. Another problem is that there are also many sub-governments that affect legislation, such as interest groups like the Sierra Club, administrative agents like the Environmental Protection Agency, and congressional committees. Because these groups add to the total number of people working on legislation, the original noble ideology of making policies for the good of the nation is nullified. Additionally, because of so much difference of opinion, few drastic changes are made, instead, small incremental changes. changes are made that take a long time and delay the effectiveness and enforcement of the legislation. In addition to this chaotic turmoil, four steps must be implemented to pass a bill. These are initiation and definition, formulation and promulgation (legitimation), implementation and evaluation. The most relevant of these steps is horizontal implementation when considering the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. This policy is the process that puts a law into effect after it has been legitimized. Congress...... middle of document...ne." (Adler, p. 1) The goals of the law as stated by Congress were to eliminate toxic discharges into large bodies of water by 1985, to improve water quality for marine and freshwater life by 1983, and for all “toxic pollutants in toxic amounts” in water. has had mediocre success, and only through continued cooperation of branches of government will further progress be made. It has been shown how different branches of government, different administrations, and different policies have worked together to delay the implementation. implementation of the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act of the early 1970s, although these processes operate within a system of government checks and balances. The founders of this country intended that the effectiveness of these laws would take many years of careful compromise to become significant. REFERENCES1 Adler, Robert. 68-74