The exercise of varied forms of public authority in American politics was carried out within the context of the separation of powers, the division of government into the legislature, the executive, and the courts. These not only constituted different governing functions but also provided active political groups with varied opportunities to implement their objectives. Each branch of government provided a different arena of political choice wherein environmentalists and their opponents strove to realize their aims.

Each arena had its distinctive set of activities and rules of the game, which in turn required different strategies. For the legislature, for example, one had to become adept at shaping the formation and passage of bills and then mobiliziing the public to influence that process. Administrative politics, on the other hand, called for technical skills with which one could comprehend the details of decisions and their environmental meaning. Critical choices often turned on fine points that only those knowledgeable about such details could understand. Litigation required still other strategies, those of selecting issues that could be made the subject of judicial choice, recruiting experts to serve as witnesses, and developing legal skills to organize and carry through the entire task. Environmentalists sought to enter each of these arenas, and each served as part of the drama of conflict over implementation of environmental objectives in public affairs.

In participating in governmental decision making, environmentalists played an important role in opening up the processes of legislation, administration, and court action to environmental objectives, bringing substantive issues to each.