The Political Economy of Climate and Energy Policy: A Theoretical Framework

Devising policies that facilitate a transition to low-carbon energy systems requires a close understanding of the country-specific political economy of energy and climate policy formulation. We develop a theoretical framework to analyze country-specific experiences and identify entry points that could bring about policy change. From an actor-center perspective, we argue that those policies are implemented that best meet the objectives of actors that have the greatest influence on policy decisions. The framework includes three basic elements: i) identifying the societal and political actors most relevant for the formulation of energy and climate policies; ii) spelling out these actors’ underlying objectives; and iii) assessing the economic, institutional, discursive and environmental context which determines how certain objectives matter for certain societal actors, how these societal actors influence political actors engaged in formal public policy formation, and how the interplay of different political actors’ interests results in the adoption of energy and climate policies. The framework is suited well developing and testing hypotheses in country-level case studies, and we illustrate it with applications to South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam.