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The Comparative Politics of Climate Change

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  • Kathryn Harrison
  • Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom

Abstract

The authors use a comparative politics framework, examining electoral interests, policy-maker's own normative commitments, and domestic political institutions as factors influencing Annex 1 countries' decisions on Kyoto Protocol ratification and adoption of national policies to mitigate climate change. Economic costs and electoral interests matter a great deal, even when policy-makers are morally motivated to take action on climate change. Leaders' normative commitments may carry the day under centralized institutional conditions, but these commitments can be reversed when leaders change. Electoral systems, federalism, and executive-legislative institutional configurations all influence ratification decisions and subsequent policy adoption. Although institutional configurations may facilitate or hinder government action, high levels of voter concern can trump institutional obstacles. Governments' decisions to ratify, and the reduction targets they face upon ratification, do not necessarily determine their approach to carbon emissions abatement policies: for example, ratifying countries that accept demanding targets may fail to take significant action. (c) 2007 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathryn Harrison & Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom, 2007. "The Comparative Politics of Climate Change," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 7(4), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:7:y:2007:i:4:p:1-18
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiaochen Gong & Yunxia Liu & Tao Sun, 2020. "Evaluating Climate Change Governance Using the “Polity–Policy–Politics” Framework: A Comparative Study of China and the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Chang, Chun-Ping & Wen, Jun & Dong, Minyi & Hao, Yu, 2018. "Does government ideology affect environmental pollutions? New evidence from instrumental variable quantile regression estimations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 386-400.
    3. Sam Barrett, 2015. "Subnational Adaptation Finance Allocation: Comparing Decentralized and Devolved Political Institutions in Kenya," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 118-139, August.
    4. Nadia Basty & Dorsaf Azouz Ghachem, 2022. "A Sectoral Approach of Adaptation Finance in Developing Countries: Does Climate Justice Apply?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Nives Dolšak, 2009. "Climate Change Policy Implementation: A Cross‐Sectional Analysis," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 26(5), pages 551-570, September.
    6. Jakob Skovgaard, 2017. "Limiting costs or correcting market failures? Finance ministries and frame alignment in UN climate finance negotiations," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 89-106, February.
    7. Sippel, Maike & Jenssen, Till, 2009. "What about local climate governance? A review of promise and problems," MPRA Paper 20987, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Passey, Robert & Bailey, Ian & Twomey, Paul & MacGill, Iain, 2012. "The inevitability of ‘flotilla policies’ as complements or alternatives to flagship emissions trading schemes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 551-561.
    9. Mark Purdon, 2015. "Advancing Comparative Climate Change Politics: Theory and Method," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 1-26, August.
    10. David J. Gordon, 2015. "An Uneasy Equilibrium: The Coordination of Climate Governance in Federated Systems," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(2), pages 121-141, May.
    11. Jonathan Pickering & Paul Mitchell, 2017. "What drives national support for multilateral climate finance? International and domestic influences on Australia’s shifting stance," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 107-125, February.
    12. Karen Stenner & Zim Nwokora, 2015. "Current and Future Friends of the Earth: Assessing Cross-National Theories of Environmental Attitudes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-21, May.
    13. Paul G. Harris & Taedong Lee, 2017. "Compliance with climate change agreements: the constraints of consumption," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 779-794, December.
    14. Hanchen Jiang & Maoshan Qiang & Dongcheng Zhang & Qi Wen & Bingqing Xia & Nan An, 2018. "Climate Change Communication in an Online Q&A Community: A Case Study of Quora," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-17, May.
    15. Michaël Aklin & Matto Mildenberger, 2020. "Prisoners of the Wrong Dilemma: Why Distributive Conflict, Not Collective Action, Characterizes the Politics of Climate Change," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 4-27, Autumn.
    16. Stavros Afionis, 2011. "The European Union as a negotiator in the international climate change regime," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 341-360, November.

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