Over-reaction and under-reaction in climate policy: an institutional analysis

Peters, B. Guy, Jordan, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7678-1024 and Tosun, Jale (2017) Over-reaction and under-reaction in climate policy: an institutional analysis. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 19 (6). pp. 612-624. ISSN 1523-908X

Preview

PDF (Published manuscript) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

In what circumstances do organizations react to changes in their operating environment by adopting proportionate policy responses? And drawing on institutional theory, what expectations can we formulate in relation to the proportionality of policy responses to climate change? These two research questions frame this article, which seeks to make new connections between the emerging perspective of proportionality in policy-making and existing institutional theories. We find that institutional theories are well suited to formulating expectations concerning the (dis)proportionality of policy responses, but their explanatory power can be further improved by taking the characteristics of specific climate policy problems into account. While there are many different problems nested in the ‘meta’ problem of climate change, we find that most of them have characteristics which suggest that policy under-reactions are more, not less likely. Amongst institutional theories, rational choice institutionalism provides the clearest expectation that proportionate policy responses are unlikely. Policy entrepreneurship is identified as one obvious way in which to stimulate proportionate policy responses, through fostering new ways of thinking within organizations.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	climate change,institutional theory,cybernetic model,policy over-reaction,policy under-reaction,sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2017 05:05
Last Modified:	14 Jun 2023 13:01
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/64108
DOI:	10.1080/1523908X.2017.1348225

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item