Socio-Technical Transitions and Policy Change - Advocacy Coalitions in Swiss Energy Policy

Abstract

Policies and politics are an integral part of socio-technical transitions but have not received much attention in the transitions literature so far. Our paper addresses this gap with a study on actors and coalitions in Swiss energy policy making. Drawing on the advocacy coalition framework, we develop first ideas about the interplay of socio-technical systems and policy systems. Then we investigate empirically how coalitions have changed and whether there are indications for major policy change. Our results show that advocacy coalitions in Switzerland have largely remained stable despite the Fukushima shock. However, heterogeneity of beliefs has increased and in 2013, even a majority of actors expressed their support for the energy transition – an indication that major policy change might be ahead. It seems that in socio-technical transitions policy change is not just a matter of core beliefs. Instead, changes in the policy issue and in the actor base – both as a consequence of technological change – play a role as well. We make suggestions how the advocacy coalition framework can inform analysis and theory building in transition studies.