Greenness and democracy

Adopting green transition policies is not politically acceptable or supported by all governments. This paper examines whether countries with a tradition of electoral democracy are more likely to adopt such policies, and whether this effect is impacted by the level of per capita income of an economy. The relationship is first explored theoretically and then empirically through a cross-country panel analysis over 1995–2020 for a wide variety of green policies and outcomes. The results suggest that it is difficult to refute the association of these outcomes with cumulative democratic experience, conditioned on the per capita income of an economy. Relatively rich democracies were more likely to adopt green policies from 1995 to 2020 than relatively poor democracies. High-income democracies could benefit from leading international collaboration and policy coordination to facilitate low-carbon transitions among all democracies. However, the post-2020 decline of democracy may affect efforts to green economies and coordinate policy.Policy highlightsThis paper examines whether countries with a tradition of electoral democracy are more likely to adopt green transition policies and whether this effect is impacted by a country’s level of per capita income.Cross-country panel analysis for a variety of green policy outcomes from 1995 to 2020 suggests that the association of democracy with these outcomes is conditioned on the per capita income level of a country.The implication is that relatively rich democracies were more likely to adopt green policies from 1995 to 2020 than relatively poor democracies.If relatively richer democracies are most likely to pursue green transition policies, then there may be mutual gains from international collaboration and policy coordination to facilitate such transitions.Richer democratic countries should also consider providing greater financial and technical assistance to support democratic emerging economies to ‘go green’.