THE POLITICS OF LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS TO CLEAN AIR LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES, JAPAN, GERMANY AND INDIA: LEASSON FOR IMPROVING THAILAND’s LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS
Keywords:
Politics, Legislative Amendment, Clean Air LawAbstract
Objectives of this research article were: 1. To study the amendment processes of countries that have succeeded or failed in managing air pollution, namely the United States, Japan, Germany, and India; 2. To compare the amendment processes of the United States, Japan, Germany, and India; and 3. To present lessons for developing Thailand’s Clean Air Act, conducted by the qualitative research employing documentary research, in which the research tools consisted of a legal analysis form, a summary recording form for secondary documents, and a comparative form for principles and approaches of each country.
Findings were as follows: successful and unsuccessful countries follow similar amendment processes, namely establishing legal principles to be amended into articles or used as incentives, and developing political institutions. However, comparative analysis showed that the key differentiating factor in practice was the effectiveness of political institutions. Therefore, the lesson for improving Thailand’s amendment process is to develop political institutions that are independent and flexible, enabling scientific knowledge to serve as the core foundation and creating space for public participation. This will lead to an effective and sustainable clean air governance system.
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