Public opinion in policy contexts. A comparative analysis of domestic energy policies and individual policy preferences in Europe

Published date01 January 2021
Date01 January 2021
DOI10.1177/0192512120913047
Subject MatterSpecial Issue Articles
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512120913047
International Political Science Review
2021, Vol. 42(1) 78 –94
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512120913047
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Public opinion in policy contexts.
A comparative analysis of domestic
energy policies and individual policy
preferences in Europe
Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen
University of Bern, Switzerland
Christina Eder
GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany
Abstract
Recent research and real-world processes suggest that effective climate change mitigation policies are not
feasible without at least a certain degree of public support. Hence, we investigate the link between existing
domestic energy policies and individual policy instrument preferences in 21 European countries. We assume
a policy feedback perspective and, thus, start from the idea that the current domestic energy context
influences what future policies are possible and preferred by citizens. High political trust and strong climate
change attitudes are expected to strengthen this relationship. Our results do not lend support to a general
link between existing policies and future policy preferences. However, we find evidence of a positive policy
feedback in individuals with strong climate change attitudes and/or high levels of political trust, which,
depending on each country’s current energy policy, either hinders or facilitates the energy transition.
Keywords
Environmental policy, political attitudes, energy policy, policy preferences
Introduction
The Paris Agreement saw almost all countries in the world agree to fight climate change and keep
global warming well below the 2°C threshold. Even though the treaty was celebrated as a great
success, it would amount to nothing more than hollow words unless followed by serious action.
Thus, governments and parliaments need to adopt new policies or adapt existing ones to trigger the
necessary changes in their countries (Le Quéré et al., 2019). Such policies could range from taxes
Corresponding author:
Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen, Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, Bern, BE 3012, Switzerland.
Email: isabelle.stadelmann@ipw.unibe.ch
913047IPS0010.1177/0192512120913047International Political Science ReviewStadelmann-Steen and Eder
research-article2020
Special Issue Article
Stadelmann-Steffen and Eder 79
on greenhouse gas emissions or bans on coal-fired power plants to subsidies for public transport
and educational programs in schools. The variety of possible policies reflects the complex chal-
lenge posed by the changing climate. Global warming has several causes and many effects, such as
melting polar ice and glaciers, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and changes to flora and
fauna; and these effects may affect different places in quite different ways. Consequently, states
have chosen very different approaches to protecting their environment, with some even deciding
against taking any action (Schmidt and Fleig, 2018).
Policymaking in democracies is a complex process involving many actors: politicians and par-
ties, lobbyists, experts, and non-government organizations (NGOs), all with their own position on
issues. There are also voters, who evaluate the performance of governments at election time if not
before. Therefore, both recent research and real-world experience suggest that the (sometimes
dramatic) policy changes necessary to mitigate climate change require at least a certain degree of
public support (Edenhofer et al., 2012: 129). Indeed, lack of social acceptance by citizens may be
one important factor—besides, for example, institutional aspects (Peters et al., 2017) and an
absence of elite consensus (see Carter and Little in this issue)—leading to politicians’ underwhelm-
ing reactions to climate change (Dermont et al., 2017).
We argue that the link between the domestic policy context and individual policy preferences is
crucial and deserves detailed investigation. The present study therefore assumes a policy feedback
perspective, that is, it starts from the idea that the current domestic energy context influences what
future policies citizens can imagine and prefer. Previous work focusing on single countries has
demonstrated that citizens’ opinions depend on policy design, particularly on personal cost–benefit
considerations, with current policies serving as an important reference point (Shwom et al., 2010).
Here, we investigate the role of the domestic energy sector in shaping citizens’ support for or resist-
ance to policy change. Moreover, we consider that policy feedback will be contingent on individual
attitudes toward both climate change and domestic politics. At the individual level, acknowledging
the need to act on anthropogenic climate change is an important precondition for supporting renew-
able energy and climate change mitigation policies (Ziegler, 2017). At the national level, since
governments play a pivotal role in framing the political debate, political trust presumably moder-
ates citizens’ readiness to accept new policies (cf. Harring, 2014). When new policies deviate
(strongly) from the status quo, trust in governments, politicians and parties—that is, the perception
that these people are trustworthy and do the ‘right thing’ – may compensate for the uncertainty
these policies involve.
We explore these questions using data on energy and the environment from the European Social
Survey 2016 module,1 including items on energy policy preferences and attitudes towards climate
change. To measure the domestic energy context, we collected country-level data on states’ current
energy mix and existing policies. Multilevel models enable us to parse the relationship between
contextual and individual-level variables and policy instrument preferences.
Our results do not support the view that the domestic energy policy context affects individual
policy preferences more broadly. However, we do find support for positive policy feedback in
individuals with strong climate change attitudes and/or high levels of political trust. On the one
hand, this means that a renewable energy policy can reinforce itself by increasing these individuals’
readiness to take further action. On the other hand, however, the mechanisms to follow a chosen
path are also relevant in a fossil energy context: where fossil energy is (economically) important,
even individuals with high levels of political trust and/or strong climate beliefs are more reluctant
to support specific renewable energy policies.
The remainder of the chapter is structured as follows. The next section is dedicated to reviewing
previous research on public preferences and public policy and outlines our theoretical background

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