Political Candidates and the Energy Issue – An Assessment of Opposition Towards Energy Transitions in Elections

This paper assesses what political candidates oppose renewable energy transitions and questions whether the energy issue matters in national elections, and thus has consequences for the implementation of new sustainable energy sources. We analyze these questions by first describing the specific characteristics of political candidates (i.e., their attitudes, party affiliations and demographics) and then evaluating the relevance of the energy issue for electoral success in three national elections in Switzerland (2007, 2012, and 2015). Based on candidate data from a voting advice application, we find that female candidates support ETs more than men do; that especially the French speaking part of the country is more in favor of a nuclear phase-out and that younger candidates are also more open towards restructuring the energy system than older candidates are. Our models further show that the energy issue does not matter in elections, independently from its salience in the respective election campaigns. Candidates are thus relatively free to choose their position on the issue and do not have to fear consequences at the ballot. However, candidates of center parties, in contrast to the pole parties, are sensitive to the energy issue and reflect public mood in their positions.