Resistance to Energy Transitions: Institutional Openings and Constraints
Authors: Christoph H. Stefes and Carol Hager
Source: Review of Policy Research, 37: 286-291. doi: 10.1111/ropr.12390
Publication type: Special issue of Review of Policy Research
Abstract: While the global effects of climate change are accelerating at an alarming rate, climate policy is not keeping pace. This special issue addresses domestic constraints on climate action around the world. Specifically, our authors analyze the multifaceted resistance to energy transitions arising in a variety of industrialized democracies, including the USA, Germany, Japan, the UK, and Switzerland. We develop politics-oriented explanations within an institutionalist framework. Each article focuses on a different aspect of resistance to energy transitions, involving different actors and political institutions. Taken together, they help explain the unsteady trajectory of energy transitions even in countries where support for climate action is robust.