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Advancing Comparative Climate Change Politics: Theory and Method

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  • Mark Purdon

Abstract

Central to this special issue is the notion that the methods and conceptual tools of comparative politics can improve our understanding of global climate change politics. Building on recent advancements in the field of comparative environmental politics, the special issues offers a more comprehensive treatment of climate change politics in developed countries, emerging economies and least developed countries. In this introduction, I distil the key features of comparative politics, advocate for the more rigorous application of comparative methods in climate politics scholarship and highlight three groups of political factors--institutions, interests and ideas--that hold considerable promise in explaining climate change politics at the domestic level. The introduction concludes with an appeal to (re)think how international and domestic politics interact. Examples drawn from the articles assembled for this special issue are used to substantiate the claims made.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Purdon, 2015. "Advancing Comparative Climate Change Politics: Theory and Method," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 1-26, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:15:y:2015:i:3:p:1-26
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    2. Shafiqul Islam & Khondker Mohammad Zobair & Cordia Chu & James C. R. Smart & Md Samsul Alam, 2021. "Do Political Economy Factors Influence Funding Allocations for Disaster Risk Reduction?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Roettereng, Jo-Kristian Straete, 2016. "How the global and national levels interrelate in climate policymaking: Foreign Policy Analysis and the case of Carbon Capture Storage in Norway's foreign policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 475-484.
    4. Coraline Goron & Cyril Cassisa, 2017. "Regulatory Institutions and Market-Based Climate Policy in China," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(1), pages 99-120, February.
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    6. Purdon, Mark, 2015. "Opening the Black Box of Carbon Finance “Additionality”: The Political Economy of Carbon Finance Effectiveness across Tanzania, Uganda, and Moldova," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 462-478.
    7. Heejung Kim & Kang-Kun Lee, 2018. "A Comparison of the Water Environment Policy of Europe and South Korea in Response to Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-9, February.
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    10. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    climate change; policy; environmental politics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • Y2 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Introductions and Prefaces

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