Abstract
Where the public acceptability of a policy can influence its chance of success, it is important to anticipate and mitigate potential concerns. This paper applies search frequency analysis and a form of claims-making analysis to identify public acceptability concerns among fourteen policies proposed by the EU-funded DYNAMIX project to achieve EU resource efficiency. Key points of contention in the corresponding public discourses focus primarily on trust, fairness, effectiveness and cost. We use our findings to provide specific recommendations for the design and implementation of the proposed policy mix which are intended to improve the public acceptability of contentious aspects, and highlight some broader insights for policymakers.
Highlights
Public acceptability is increasingly considered to be an important factor in the design of effective policy [1,2,3,4,5]
With regard to the public acceptability of measures to restrict advertising and marketing, we find a good level of support in the public discourse, for current attempts to restrict misleading and unfair advertising, regulation on advertising related to health, and restrictions on advertising to children
We explored the public acceptability of “Local currencies for labour-based services” through an analysis of discourse around the many widespread Local Exchange Trading System (LETS) schemes that already exist in various communities around the world and in the majority of Member States
Summary
Public acceptability is increasingly considered to be an important factor in the design of effective policy [1,2,3,4,5]. Acceptability and public support are important concerns for managing transitions to sustainability [6], which forms the context for this paper. Examples of policy failures attributed to low public acceptability include: the rejection of a heat-based energy tax (the “BTU” tax) in the USA [13]; the rejection of the 1993 proposal to increase the value added tax (VAT) on UK domestic energy [14]; the rejection of proposals to tax fossil energy in Switzerland in 2000 and in France in 2010 [15,16]; and the rejection of proposed road-user charges in Edinburgh and Manchester [7,17]
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