Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2005.Includes bibliographical references.This study examines the political processes through which the Framework Convention on Climate Change was negotiated and the initial efforts of the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan to adopt national policies and measures to implement it. Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) as a theoretical lens, it looks in particular at coalition behavior in the policy processes at the international, national, and sub-national levels, and the nature of cooperation and coordination both within and between these levels. In doing so, it attempts to shed additional light on the capacity and propensity of national governments to implement international environmental agreements.by Granville Clark Sewell.Ph.D