GOVERNANCE BY DIFFUSION The political relevance of a concept

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Beverly Watkins
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Conference Zukunft der Umweltpolitik - Umweltpolitik der

1 Helge Jörgens Kerstin Tews GOVERNANCE BY DIFFUSION The political relevance of a concept Presentation at the Conference Zukunft der Umweltpolitik - Umweltpolitik der Zukunft. 30 Jahre Forschungszentrum fu r Umweltpolitik (FFU) Berlin, April 26 th 2016

2 THE CONCEPT OF DIFFUSION: TRANSLATED INTO COMPARATIVE POLICY ANALYSIS I. policy diffusion concept: captures the influence of non-hierarchical external actions on (sub)national policy decisions (adapted from Gray 1994) II. Diffusion is a process of successive adoptions of a policy innovation among jurisdictions of a multi-level political system driven by diverse mechanisms beyond hierarchy Explanatory factors to account for patterns of spread (macro-level): Inter-/transnational factors National factors } and their interplay! Characteristics of the innovation III. Specific features of that concept: Neutrality with regard to the term innovation (just new to the adopter, no judgment, policy output) Openness with regard to the underlying mechanisms (e.g. learning, emulation/bandwagoning/ norm cascades, regulatory competition etc.) IV. Main rationale (micro-level): risk aversion of decision makers makes them receptive to shortcuts by explicit lesson drawing with regard to the solution of a similar challenge/problem by copying or mimetic emulation [ ] it is better for reputation to fail conventionally, than to succeed unconventionally (Keynes 1936) 2

3 GOVERNANCE BY DIFFUSION I. The FFU contribution: Conceptualizing diffusion as a distinct mode of global environmental governance 3

4 GOVERNANCE BY DIFFUSION II. Research questions Do processes of cross-national environmental policy diffusion lead to similar outcomes as multilateral environmental agreements? Can diffusion be conceived as a functional alternative to multilateral agreements or supranational law?... and if so... Which factors accelerate or hinder the international diffusion of environmental policies. 4

5 GOVERNANCE BY DIFFUSION III. Main findings Dataset: spread of 22 environmental policy innovations across 43 countries over a period of 60 years ( ) The governance impact of diffusion is comparable to that of hierarchy (legal harmonization or multilateral agreements) Governance by diffusion is less vulnerable to the veto power of influential states or groups of countries 5

6 GOVERNANCE BY DIFFUSION Diffusion played a significant role in the emergence of various environmental policy clusters: Environmental ministries Environmental agencies Environmental impact assessments Environmental framework laws Green certificate systems for renewable electricity Feed-in tariffs for renewable electricity Eco-labels Environmental and SD strategies National Commissions for Sust. Development 6

7 DIFFUSION OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY INSTITUTIONS 7

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10 GOVERNANCE BY DIFFUSION III. Main findings (cont.) Institutionalized channels of issue-specific communication and knowledge exchange accelerate environmental policy diffusion. These channels are provided in particular by international organizations or multilateral treaty systems International bureaucracies, for example the UNFCCC Secretariat, constitute information hubs and become influential agents of diffusion The more intergovernmental negotiations are blocked, the more these organizations engage in stimulating decentralized environmental policy innovation and diffusion (ENVIPA). 10

11 GOVERNANCE BY DIFFUSION IV. Research gaps Researchers have studied diffusion processes either at the national or at the subnational level. From a governance by diffusion -perspective, the interactions between diffusion processes at different levels of government (local, national, supranational, international) become increasingly relevant. Stalemate at one level of government can be compensated or even overcome by increased action at another. Research needs to focus on this entanglement of levels of government (local to global) and modes of governance (decentralized and voluntary to centralized and binding) 11

12 THE REBIRTH OF A SUB-NATIONAL FOCUS IN DIFFUSION RESEARCH: LABORATORIES OF INNOVATIONS IN LOW CARBON TRANSITION PROCESSES Revival of old idea of laboratory federalism : Decentralised jurisdictions function as laboratories of innovations Diverse interlinkages between decentralised jurisdictions within a multi-level system cause subsequent horizontal processes of policy learning and diffusion innovation diffusion as complementary mechanism of convergence to a hierarchical mechanism based on (inter)national state-centred negotiations 12

13 THE POLITICAL RELEVANCE OF THE CONCEPT OF LABORATORIES OF INNOVATIONS IN LOW CARBON TRANSITION PROCESSES 1. Diverse governmental programs at national level with municipal or regional focus to stimulate translation of global challenges into local experimentation (Scaling down) to produce model solutions for others (Scaling up) 2. Struggle between two paradigms how to come forward with Europeanization of a low carbon transition Single energy market a rationale for a cost-efficient transformation of energy system RISK of regulatory diversity: harmonisation required curbed experimentation? Heterogeneity of preferences NEED for regulatory diversity to offer the necessary room of manoevre at decentralised level Risk of single market distortions 13

14 NEED FOR LABORATORIES OF INNOVATION IN LOW CARBON ENERGY TRANSITIONS The specific nature of transition processes: Complex process of socio-technical change Destabilisation of lock-in mechanisms Shifts in behavioural patterns Need for technological, political and social innovation Characterised by a great deal of uncertainty No predefined and uncontested script Need for experimentation Assumption and positive narrative offered by scholars of polycentric governance: the decentralised level provides a space to experiment with innovation 14

15 RESEARCH NEED: BACKING UP THE POSITIVE NARRATIVE WITH EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE solid basis in empirical reality (e.g. 100% Renewable energy regions, transnational energy cities collaboration, etc.) Literature on sub-national experimentation has a tendency to show over-enthusiasm for the innovation potential of decentral and bottom-up processes (positive narrative) and lacks addressing scaling up needs More research is needed on: empirical evidence of decentral level s real contribution to solving the systemic challenges of energy transformations/global climate change mitigation Re-shift research focus to investigate conditions and mechanisms of scaling up (diffusion): but Evaluation of efforts at decentralised level with regard to : - governance challenges of systemic relevance that can be addressed at the local/regional level - transferability of decentral innovations Assess the interplay between the different modes of policy coordination in polycentric 15 governance systems

16 Thank you for your attention... e mille grazie, Rosaria 16

DECENTRALISED LABORATORIES OF INNOVATIONS

Dr. Kerstin Tews Environmental Policy Research Centre (ffu) Freie Universität Berlin NEW CHALLENGES FOR DECENTRALISED LABORATORIES OF INNOVATIONS IN THE GERMAN ENERGY TRANSITION Spring Campus Freie Universität