Discourse Coalitions and the Australian Climate Change Policy Network

2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 727-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriet Bulkeley
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Australian Climate ◽  
Discourse Coalitions

scholarly journals Media Coverage and Perceived Policy Influence of Environmental Actors: Good Strategy or Pyrrhic Victory?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-310
Author(s):  
Adam C. Howe ◽  
Mark C. J. Stoddart ◽  
David B. Tindall
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Policy Networks ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Policy Influence ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Movement Organizations

In this article we analyze how media coverage for environmental actors (individual environmental activists and environmental movement organizations) is associated with their perceived policy influence in Canadian climate change policy networks. We conceptualize media coverage as the total number of media mentions an actor received in Canada’s two main national newspapers—the <em>Globe and Mail</em> and <em>National Post</em>. We conceptualize perceived policy influence as the total number of times an actor was nominated by other actors in a policy network as being perceived to be influential in domestic climate change policy making in Canada. Literature from the field of social movements, agenda setting, and policy networks suggests that environmental actors who garner more media coverage should be perceived as more influential in policy networks than actors who garner less coverage. We assess support for this main hypothesis in two ways. First, we analyze how actor attributes (such as the type of actor) are associated with the amount of media coverage an actor receives. Second, we evaluate whether being an environmental actor shapes the association between media coverage and perceived policy influence. We find a negative association between media coverage and perceived policy influence for individual activists, but not for environmental movement organizations. This case raises fundamental theoretical questions about the nature of relations between media and policy spheres, and the efficacy of media for signaling and mobilizing policy influence.

scholarly journals Australian climate change policy—where to from here?

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 418
Author(s):  
Tim Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Australian Climate ◽  
Emissions Trading Scheme ◽  
Commonwealth Government ◽  
Trading Scheme ◽  
Export Industries

In the past decade, Australia’s approach to climate change policy has been erratic. Both major political parties announced support for a domestic emissions trading scheme (ETS) in 2007, but bipartisan agreement evaporated in 2009. An ETS was established in 2011, but was repealed in 2014. The Commonwealth Government has subsequently introduced a Direct Action climate change policy. There is absence of bipartisan agreement about the best long-term policy approach. This extended abstract provides some insights for future Australian climate change policy using the lessons provided from previous policies and international experience. Strategically, Australia would be well placed to consider how best to manage the risks associated with potential substitution of coal and gas in power generation globally, given the strategic importance of these export industries for Australia.

scholarly journals Contrasting perspectives on barriers to adaptation in Australian climate change policy

2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elissa Waters ◽  
Jon Barnett ◽  
Aedan Puleston
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Australian Climate ◽  
Barriers To Adaptation

scholarly journals A rhetorical perspective on youth environmental activism

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (06) ◽  
pp. C07
Author(s):  
Hannah R. Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Speaking Out ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Australian Climate ◽  
Emotional Appeals ◽  
Voting Age ◽  
A Current

As “alternative” [Maeseele, 2009] science communicators, young people (of pre-voting age) have an important role to play in the climate communication arena. Youth have access to rhetorical resources associated with evidence-based and emotional appeals. However, they are challenged by political, media and public entities on their ability to effectively engage with politicised scientific issues. Their credibility and authority to speak on climate issues are challenged. This piece takes a rhetorical lens to a current youth climate change advocacy case study, the ‘School Strike for Climate’. I argue that Australian youth are criticised for being politically inexperienced in attempts to silence them from speaking out about Australian climate change policy. Implications for science communicators working in the climate change space, and the ‘Strike’ participants themselves are discussed.

scholarly journals The Science–Policy Interface as a Discourse Network: Finland’s Climate Change Policy 2002–2015

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kukkonen ◽  
Tuomas Ylä-Anttila
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Science Policy ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Science Policy Interface ◽  
Discourse Coalitions ◽  
Scientific Arguments ◽  
Over Time

In this article, we argue that the science–policy interface can be understood as a discourse network constituted by discursive interaction between scientific organizations and other actors that both use scientific arguments in conjunction with other policy arguments. We use discourse network analysis to investigate the climate change policy process in Finland between 2002 and 2015, focusing on the role of and relationships between scientific actors and arguments in the discourse networks. Our data consist of policy actors’ written testimonies on two law proposals, the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (2002) and the enactment of the Finnish Climate Law (2015). Our results show that two competing discourse coalitions have influenced the development of climate change policy in the 2000s. In 2002, the dominant coalition was economic, prioritizing economic growth over climate change mitigation. In 2015, the climate coalition that argued for ambitious mitigation measures became dominant. The majority of scientific actors were part of the dominant economy coalition in 2002 and part of the dominant ecology coalition in 2015. The centrality of scientific arguments increased over time, and both discourse coalitions used them progressively more. These developments reflect the increasingly central position of science in Finnish climate policymaking. We contribute to the literature on the science–policy interface by operationalizing the interface as a set of connections in a discourse network and by showing how the analysis of discourse networks and their properties can help us understand the shifts in the role of science in policymaking over time.

scholarly journals Can policy forums overcome echo chamber effects by enabling policy learning? Evidence from the Irish climate change policy network

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Wagner ◽  
Tuomas Ylä-Anttila
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Policy Advice ◽  
Policy Learning ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Exponential Random Graph Models ◽  
Network Ties ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Exponential Random Graph ◽  
Echo Chambers

AbstractResearch has repeatedly shown that individuals and organisations tend to obtain information from others whose beliefs are similar to their own, forming “echo chambers” with their network ties. Echo chambers are potentially harmful for evidence-based policymaking as they can hinder policy learning and consensus building. Policy forums could help alleviate the effects of echo chambers if organisations with different views were to participate and to use the opportunities that forums provide to learn from those outside their networks. Applying exponential random graph models on survey data of the Irish climate change policy network, we find that policy actors do indeed tend to obtain policy advice from those whose beliefs are similar to their own. We also find that actors tend not to obtain policy advice from the those that they encounter at policy forums, suggesting forums are not enabling policy learning.

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