The politics of climate change: Domestic and international responses to a global challenge
| Author | Jale Tosun,B Guy Peters |
| Published date | 01 January 2021 |
| Date | 01 January 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0192512120975659 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Introduction |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512120975659
International Political Science Review
2021, Vol. 42(1) 3 –15
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512120975659
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The politics of climate change:
Domestic and international
responses to a global challenge
Jale Tosun
Heidelberg University, Germany
B. Guy Peters
University of Pittsburgh, USA
Abstract
The contributions to this special issue examine the politics of domestic and international climate policy,
concentrating on the role of institutions, interests, ideas, and networks. The outcomes of the policymaking
processes are assessed with regard to their proportionality, that is, the balance between the benefits and
costs of a policy. The contributions show that climate politics can lead to policy under- and overreactions.
This introduction sets out the common research interest of the special issue and explains how the individual
contributions relate to each other. To this end, it begins by providing the rationale for adopting the analytical
perspective of comparative politics. Then it presents the conceptual framework and gives an overview of
the contributions to this issue. Subsequently, it develops a research agenda that highlights avenues for future
research and offers a brief conclusion that reflects on the potential of the concept of (dis)proportionality to
advance the cumulative knowledge on climate politics and policies.
Keywords
Comparative politics, climate change, policymaking, policy overreactions, policy underreactions
Introduction
Climate change entered the political agenda in 1988 with the Toronto Conference on the Changing
Atmosphere and has experienced fluctuations in attention levels ever since. National governments
committed themselves to addressing climate change through the adoption of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, marking a peak in political
Corresponding author:
Jale Tosun, Institute of Political Science and Heidelberg Center for the Environment, Heidelberg University, Bergheimer
Straße 58, Heidelberg, 69115, Germany.
Email: jale.tosun@ipw.uni-heidelberg.de
975659IPS0010.1177/0192512120975659International Political Science ReviewTosun and Peters
research-article2020
Special Issue Introduction
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