Abstract
Partisan theory is not easy to apply to environmental issues. One reason for this is that party families are usually structured according to the left-right dimension. However, such a perspective ignores the fact that the concept of party families stems from a multi-dimensional historical analysis. In order to determine the relevance of the influence of party families on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs), we use a new data set that differentiates between ten party families. An organization theoretical analysis shows that the participation of green parties in government reduces GHGEs. Left parties have much less impact. In contrast, non-Christian center parties have a negative effect on GHGEs. Methodologically, we show that the party effect does not appear in the short term, but only takes effect after more than two years
Highlights
Zusammenfassung Die Parteiendifferenzhypothese lässt sich nicht leicht auf Umweltfragen anwenden
In order to determine the relevance of the influence of party families on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs), we use a new data set that differentiates between ten party families
Klaus von Beyme (1985, p. 136), who developed the party family approach, comes to the same conclusion. He describes that nationalization and strengthening of the state sector can be combined with left positions and law and order with right positions: “But there are demands in other areas which can well pay a greater part in day-to-day political activity, such as social policy, energy policy or environmental protection, and they can only be forced into a Left-Right pattern with some distortion.”
Summary
The classical partisan theory takes the left-right dichotomy as the starting point of its analysis and classifies government parties into the categories of left and right (Hibbs 1977; Tufte 1978; Cameron 1978; Stephens 1979; Schmidt 1982). Interesting in our context is that Hibbs offers a list for center parties which favor price stability the most—but less so than right parties. These parties see economic expansion and full employment as more important than right parties. In this formative stage, party action can be interpreted with a closed rational model of organization theory where party ideology explains policies. This model is the approach Hibbs used in his explanations. We depart from the assumption that the left-right dimension is an integral part of the partisan theory and focus instead on the historical development of party families
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