The Double Democratic Deficit in Climate Policy-making by the EU Commission

Abels und Mushaben (2012) argumentieren, dass in der Europäischen Union ein doppeltes Demokratiedefizit bezogen auf Geschlecht existiert: Frauen seien in den EU-Institutionen unterrepräsentiert und der EU-Politik fehle es insgesamt an einer Geschlechterperspektive. Dieser Beitrag trägt mit einem spezifischen Fokus auf Klimapolitik zu dieser Forschungsperspektive bei. Die EU ist eine wichtige Konstrukteurin des internationalen Klimaregimes und sie hat sich gleichzeitig verpflichtet, Gender Mainstreaming umzusetzen. Darüber hinaus sind in Europa geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede bezogen auf das Verhalten zum und Ansichten über den Klimawandel dokumentiert. Dieser Artikel untersucht, wie relevant das doppelte Demokratiedefizit in der EU Klimapolitik ist. Wir stellen die Anteile der Expertinnen und Experten bei den zuständigen Referaten für Klimapolitik in der Europäischen Kommission dar und zeigen mit Dokumentenanalysen und Interviews mit politischen Entscheidungsträger*innen, dass geschlechtsspezifische Aspekte in den EU Klimadokumenten nicht enthalten sind. Mittels feministischem Institutionalismus kommen wir zu dem Ergebnis, dass die bestehenden geschlechtsspezifischen Machtverhältnisse innerhalb der Kommission die erforschten Klimaeinheiten beeinflussen und diese männlich konnotierte institutionelle Praktiken reproduzieren. (Autorenreferat)Abels and Mushaben (2012) argue that there is a double democratic deficit in the European Union regarding gender: women are underrepresented within the EU institutions and gender awareness is lacking in EU policymaking. This article contributes to this scholarship with a specific focus on the climate domain. The EU is an important constructor of the international climate regime and the Union is committed to gender mainstream all its policies and processes. Furthermore, there are documented gender differences in Europe regarding behaviour and views on climate change. This article investigates the relevance of the double democratic deficit for the EU´s climate policymaking. We map the representation of female and male experts at the European Commission´s climate units and search for gender recognition in the EU´s climate documents. There we discover silence regarding gender, confirmed through interviews with policy-makers. Using feminist institutionalism we conclude that existing gender power relations within the Commission affect the explored climate units, which reproduce masculine institutional practices. (author's abstract

The (In)Visibility of Gender in Scandinavian Climate Policy-Making

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. This article explores the link between gender representation and climate policy-making in Scandinavia. We ask to what extent equal descriptive representation (critical mass) results in substantive representation (critical acts). Our study shows that women and men are equally represented in administrative and political units involved in climate policy-making, and in some units women are in the majority. However, a text analysis of the outcomes, that is, the Scandinavian climate strategies, reveals a silence regarding gender, further confirmed through interviews. Accordingly, a critical mass of women does not automatically result in gender-sensitive climate policy-making, recognizing established gender differences in material conditions and in attitudes toward climate issues. In interviews, we also note that policy-makers are largely unaware of gender differences on climate issues in the Scandinavian context. We discuss why a critical mass of women in climate policy-making has not led to critical acts and offer alternative explanations informed by feminist IR theory. For example, poststructural feminism claims that masculine norms are deeply institutionalized in climate institutions; hence, policy-makers adapt their actions to the masculinized institutional environment. Thus, substantive representation should be understood in relation to gendered institutional processes

Norræn áhrif á umhverfisstefnu ESB : Nordic influences on EU Environmental Politics

This chapter explores the possible influences of Sweden, Denmark and Finland on the Environmental Policy of the EU. We focus specifically on the reputation, expertise and role model behaviour of the Nordic EU members and their possibilities to use these factors as cognitive power resources.The chapter discusses several examples where the Nordic EU member states have successfully promoted their national environmental interests within the EU. We also make use of interviews with environmental representatives at the Swedish, Danish and Finnish Permanent Representations  to the EU in Brussels, officials from other member states, DG Environment of the Commission and the European Environment Agency. The results indicate that the Nordic EU members  have to some extent minimised their quantitative disadvantages, such as small administrations and limited voting powers, by successfully using the cognitive power resources in question within the Environmental Policy of the European Union

Small States as Role Models and Norm-setters

International Relations (IR)-theorists argue that state’s power is built on its geographical size, its population size, and economic status. According to this view small states lack power in international relations (Goetschel, 1998). This paper challenges this view and points out various cognitive power resources, influenced by leadership theorists, which can be of great advantage to small states. Cognitive resources are by definition qualitative resources such as negotiating skills, expertise knowledge, ideas, example-setting, norm setting and mediation, in contrast to quantitative power resources, such as financial strength and number of votes (Peterson and Bomberg, 1999). A key element associated with the use of cognitive resources is the ability to persuade others of the rightfulness of your own way, by using variety of reasons such as technical knowledge, emphasis on moral principles and/or by setting good examples (Malnes, 1995; see also e.g. Ingebritsen, 2002; Kronsell, 2002) In this paper it is claimed that small states have been known, (and can), take the lead in certain policy areas in order to make their voice heard, if they already have an established image as experts, norm-setters, role models or mediators, in the policy areas in question. This leads us to the main hypothesis which can be summarized as follows: Small states can take the lead and increase their influences in certain policy areas of concern to them by using “cognitive power resources” such as expertise knowledge, norm setting, example-setting or mediation.

Immigrant Representation in the Swedish Parliament : Towards Homogeneity or United Diversity?

The current study explores how immigrants are represented within the two largest political parties in Sweden, the Social Democratic Party and the Moderate Party. Apart from exploring the descriptive representation of immigrants in the Swedish parliament, this article explores whether immigrant representation in the two parties in question results in visible diversity in views on immigration and in particular asylum politics. We are predominantly interested in exploring whether immigrant parliamentarians, who might have identities and experiences differing from the majority of the parliamentarians, represent views departing from the general party lines. The theoretical underpinnings of the article are based on an intersectionality approach and historical and feminist institutionalism, specifically the politics of presence, which explores the link between a critical mass in politics and critical acts or substantive representation. The first findings of the study, which have been reached primarily through a qualitative comparative analysis of survey material, are mixed. The number of Social Democratic and Moderate immigrant parliamentarians does not reach the level of foreign-born citizens in Sweden. Nevertheless, there appears to be room for diverse views on immigration and asylum politics that depart from the general party lines in both parties

Still Making their Voices Heard within the EU? The Nordic States' Experience of the Effects of the Financial Crisis on their Environmental Goals : The Nordic States' Experience of the Effects of the Financial Crisis on their Environmental Goals

AbstractThe Nordic EU members, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have a well-established reputation as environmental forerunners (Magnúsdóttir 2009, 2011, Liefferink and Andersen 2005, Ingebritsen 2002, Kronsell 2002). Hitherto they have on various occasions been able to act as “eco-entrepreneurs” within the EU and have actively used their reputation and strong image to promote their environmental objectives (Kronsell 2002, Magnúsdóttir 2009, 2010, Ingebritsen 2006). Today however, much of the world´s attention is still focused on the extensive effects of the global financial crisis and solutions for recovery. Consequently the crisis put economic concerns at the top of the agenda of most states at the expense of environmental issues. The poor results of the COP15 climate summit, in December 2009 and the succeeding COP summits indicate that advocates of a progressive climate policy, such as the Nordic states, are still met with skepticism. In the light of the present state of affairs we want to shed light on the current environmental reputation or image of the Nordic EU member states within the EU and ask; how, if in any ways, has the self-image and/or the international image of the Nordic EU members in environmental politics been affected by the crisis? Furthermore, we ask; how, if in any ways, have the environmental goals and preferences of the Nordic EU members been affected by the crisis? Accordingly, the article explores the reputation and preferences of the Nordic EU member states within the Environmental Policy of the EU in 2011-2014. We make use of our own previous research on the images and preferences of the Nordic EU members in the pre-crisis period of 2002-2008 for comparative purposes. The first preliminary findings of the article indicate that the crisis has to some extent affected the preferences of the Nordic EU members and also had some effects on their self-images. Key words: Nordic EU members, environmental politics, normative power, images, and preferences

Still Making their Voices Heard within the EU? The Nordic States' Experience of the Effects of the Financial Crisis on their Environmental Goals : The Nordic States' Experience of the Effects of the Financial Crisis on their Environmental Goals

AbstractThe Nordic EU members, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have a well-established reputation as environmental forerunners (Magnúsdóttir 2009, 2011, Liefferink and Andersen 2005, Ingebritsen 2002, Kronsell 2002). Hitherto they have on various occasions been able to act as “eco-entrepreneurs” within the EU and have actively used their reputation and strong image to promote their environmental objectives (Kronsell 2002, Magnúsdóttir 2009, 2010, Ingebritsen 2006). Today however, much of the world´s attention is still focused on the extensive effects of the global financial crisis and solutions for recovery. Consequently the crisis put economic concerns at the top of the agenda of most states at the expense of environmental issues. The poor results of the COP15 climate summit, in December 2009 and the succeeding COP summits indicate that advocates of a progressive climate policy, such as the Nordic states, are still met with skepticism. In the light of the present state of affairs we want to shed light on the current environmental reputation or image of the Nordic EU member states within the EU and ask; how, if in any ways, has the self-image and/or the international image of the Nordic EU members in environmental politics been affected by the crisis? Furthermore, we ask; how, if in any ways, have the environmental goals and preferences of the Nordic EU members been affected by the crisis? Accordingly, the article explores the reputation and preferences of the Nordic EU member states within the Environmental Policy of the EU in 2011-2014. We make use of our own previous research on the images and preferences of the Nordic EU members in the pre-crisis period of 2002-2008 for comparative purposes. The first preliminary findings of the article indicate that the crisis has to some extent affected the preferences of the Nordic EU members and also had some effects on their self-images. Key words: Nordic EU members, environmental politics, normative power, images, and preferences