100 research outputs found
How Do Governmentsâ Policy Priorities Change as the Energy Transition Progresses? A Cross-Country Comparison
Todayâs energy transition is marked by two key processes: the maturation of the renewable electricity system, and the declining fit between the new and incumbent electricity systems. Given these processes, how do governments change their policy priorities as the transition progresses? Our comparative analysis of six EU member states shows that governments dynamically adapt their policy priorities based on changes in their socio-technical systems. Our initial findings suggest that governments follow a specific sequence of policy priorities in the energy transition. Results stress how important it is that governments strategically sequence policy instruments for a smooth transition amid changing priorities.</p
Institutional complexity traps in policy integration processes: a long-term perspective on Swiss flood risk management
Complexity is inherent to the policy processes and to more and more domains such as environment
or social policy. Complexity produces unexpected and counterintuitive effects,
in particular, the phenomenon of policy regimes falling short of expectations while made
by refined policies. This paper addresses this phenomenon by investigating the process of
policy integration and its nonlinearities in the long run. We consider that the increase in
the number of policies unexpectedly impacts the policy coherence within a policy regime.
We argue that, depending on the degree of policy interactions, this impact varies in direction
and intensity over time, which explains nonlinearities in integration. The impact turns
negative when the regime is made of numerous policies, which favors non-coordinated
policy interactions. Finally, the negative impact prevents further integration as stated by the
Institutional Complexity Trap hypothesis and explains the contemporary paradoxical phenomenon
of ineffective policy regimes made of refined policies. Empirically, we draw on a
relational analysis of policies in the Swiss flood risk policy regime from 1848 to 2017. We
study the co-evolution of the number of policies and of their de facto interlinkages, i.e., the
co-regulations of a common issue. Findings support that the Institutional Complexity Trap
is a structural and long-term dynamic punctuated by periods of policy learning and policy
selection. We identify three main phases in the evolution of the regime: the start (1848â
1874), the development (1874â1991), and the Institutional Complexity Trap (since 1991)
Governing water with market-based instruments: preferences and skepticism in Switzerland
With an increasing awareness of newly detected but unregulated pollutants in waterbodies, the question arises as to how these emerging issues concerning water quality should be politically addressed. Environmental economists have advocated market-based instruments because of their effectiveness, cost-efficiency, and flexibility. However, lessons from past experiences where market forces were used to solve public problems indicate that issues related to administrative complexities, legitimacy, or uncertainty can arise. Turning the academic debate into an empirical one, this chapter takes an actor perspective and assesses the potential for introducing market-based instruments through the example of Switzerland, a forerunner in developing water policy to control emerging pollutants. Findings show that Swiss policy actors have a preference for command-and-control or voluntary instruments ahead of market-based approaches for reducing emerging pollutants in water
Why nations lead or lag in energy transitions
Policy-driven change hinges on institutions that support insulation or compensationaRussiaâs invasion of Ukraine has disrupted energy markets, producing price spikes reminiscent of the 1970s. Many suggest that the crisis may accelerate transitions away from fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, governments have responded very differently to the price shock. Though some are prioritizing clean energy, others are doubling down on fossil fuel production. Why do countries respond so differently to the same problem? Access to domestic fossil fuel resources is only part of the story. Countries also vary in the political sources that enable transformational change in energy and climate policy (1, 2). We draw on two historical episodes illustrating variation in energy transitions across countriesâthe 1970s oil shocks, and policies to address climate changeâto offer important lessons on the political opportunities and constraints for policy-makers across different countries to accelerate the transition to clean energy
The European 2030 climate and energy package:do domestic strategy adaptations precede EU policy change?
The European Unionâs 2030 climate and energy package introduced fundamental changes compared to its 2020 predecessor. These changes included a stronger focus on the internal market and an increased emphasis on technology-neutral decarbonization while simultaneously de-emphasizing the renewables target. This article investigates whether changes in domestic policy strategies of leading member states in European climate policy preceded the observed changes in EU policy. Disaggregating strategic change into changes in different elements (goals, objectives, instrumental logic), allows us to go beyond analyzing the relative prioritization of different goals, and to analyze how policy requirements for reaching those goals were dynamically redefined over time. To this end, we introduce a new method, which based on insights from social network analysis, enables us to systematically trace those strategic chances. We find that shifts in national strategies of the investigated member states preceded the shift in EU policy. In particular, countries reframed their understanding of supply security, and pushed for the internal electricity market also as a security measure to balance fluctuating renewables. Hence, the increasing focus on markets and market integration in the European 2030 package echoed the increasingly central role of the internal market for electricity supply security in national strategies. These findings also highlight that countries dynamically redefined their goals relative to the different phases of the energy transition
Interdependent policy instrument preferences: a two-mode network approach
In policymaking, actors are likely to take the preferences of others into account when strategically positioning themselves. However, there is a lack of research that conceives of policy preferences as an interdependent system. In order to analyse interdependencies, we link actors to their policy preferences in water protection, which results in an actor-instrument network. As actors exhibit multiple preferences, a complex two-mode network between actors and policies emerges. We analyse whether actors exhibit interdependent preference profiles given shared policy objectives or social interactions among them. By fitting an exponential random graph model to the actor-instrument network, we find considerable clustering, meaning that actors tend to exhibit preferences for multiple policy instruments in common. Actors tend to exhibit interdependent policy preferences when they are interconnected, that is, they collaborate with each other. By contrast, actors are less likely to share policy preferences when a conflict line divides them
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