Domestic Political Institutions Research Articles

Do Political Institutions Influence the Dismantling of Fossil Fuel Subsidies? Lessons from the OECD Countries and a Comparative Analysis of Canadian and German Production Subsidies

Despite a global consensus that fossil fuel subsidies should be reformed, limited progress has been made. The study assesses whether domestic political institutions insulating politicians from backlash and compensating those affected by reforms make subsidies easier to dismantle. It was found that proportional representation and corporatism were correlated with lower levels of fossil fuel subsidies in OECD countries. A comparative case study of coal production subsidies in Germany and gas production subsidies in Canada suggests that political insulation and compensation contributed towards the dismantling of fossil fuel subsidies. The findings provide an understanding of the impact of corporatism and electoral systems on reform.

Political Regimes and Refugee Entries: The Preferences and Decisions of Displaced Persons and Host Governments

Abstracts What drives refugee movements? Focusing on host countries' domestic political institutions, we argue that refugee entry is determined by the political regimes that shape the incentives of both host governments and displaced persons. Specifically, we theorize that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between political regimes and the volume of refugee entries. When the host country is autocratic, refugee volume becomes smaller due to displaced persons’ unwillingness to risk the high uncertainty of life under such regimes, and when the host country is democratic, refugee volume is similarly curbed due to democratic constraints on the host government. Consequently, a majority of refugees are clustered into anocratic regimes. Using a global dataset, a series of statistical analyses found strong evidence in support of our theoretical expectations regarding not only the hypothesized correlation between regime type and refugee movements but also the preferences of host governments and displaced persons that we theorize underlie this relationship.

Peace at Home, Conflict Abroad: Government Ideology, Mission Type, and Parliamentary Support for Military Interventions

Abstract International relations scholarship has long overlooked the role of parliament in shaping states’ decision to go to war. In contrast, recent studies explored variations in parliamentary war powers across time and countries and their impact on troop deployments abroad. However, a systematic analysis of the determinants of support for military interventions in parliament is still missing. This article fills this literature gap by examining votes on 119 missions in twenty-one democracies between 1990 and 2019. Our findings suggest that parliamentary contestation is fundamentally driven by government ideology and the type of mission. Parliamentary support for military intervention is significantly higher when a left-wing government is in power. Moreover, “inclusive” missions with a robust humanitarian dimension draw a considerably lower level of contestation than “strategic” missions aimed at contrasting a security threat. Through such findings, the article contributes to the debates on the relevance of domestic political institutions in foreign policy and the party politics of military interventions.

Firms and Trade Policy Lobbying in the European Union

AbstractOur understanding of the role of firms in the making of European Union (EU) trade policy remains partial. This article contributes to expanding this literature by investigating under what conditions we observe more firm‐centric lobbying, compared to business associational lobbying, in EU trade policy. We advance the arguments that firm‐centric political lobbying in EU trade policy‐making is a function of both industry and country‐level characteristics. Relying on an original dataset of lobbying contacts with the EU Trade Commissioner, his or her cabinet members and the Director‐General between 2014 and 2018, we find that the likelihood of firm‐centric lobbying increases in (1) EU industries displaying high levels of multinational corporations' activity, global sourcing of intermediates and product differentiation and (2) countries characterized as liberal market economies. Besides showing that firm‐centric models of trade travel well in the EU context, we contribute to advancing the understanding of how domestic political institutions affect the politics of trade.

Do jihadist terrorist attacks cause changes in institutional trust? A multi‐site natural experiment

AbstractResults from previous research suggest that terrorist attacks lead to relatively short‐term increases in trust in institutions. The explanation for this increase is known as the ‘rally effect’, whereby individuals respond to crises and threats with more positive support for political leaders and institutions. Even though the number of related natural experiments with survey data is increasing, these studies merely represent case studies of single incidents with limited external validity. To advance quasi‐experimental research on the effects of terrorist attacks on institutional trust, we propose a new methodological approach by assessing all jihadist terrorist attacks resulting in at least one civilian death in a European country that take place during the fieldwork of the European Social Survey and combining the results of eight unique natural experiments in five different countries using meta‐analytic and meta‐regression techniques. The results of this ‘multi‐site natural experiment’ indicate that support for the rally‐hypothesis is mixed at best. While some attacks appear to significantly increase at least some measures of institutional trust (e.g., The Netherlands 2004, France 2015, Israel 2012), others seem to have no effect at all (e.g., Germany 2015, France 2018), or even substantially decrease trust in domestic political institutions (Russia 2012). Summary effects from multilevel meta‐analyses are non‐significant for any institutional trust outcome. These results are robust to a large number of robustness tests and alternative specifications. In comparison with previous research, it appears that a lot of the European evidence for the rally‐hypothesis was based on ‘outlier’ case studies like the Charlie Hebdo attack in France, 2015. Accordingly, our results cast doubt on the unrestricted generalisability of rally effects after terrorist attacks to different geographic, political, social or historical contexts.

Preventing Coups and Seeking Allies: The Demand and Supply of Alliances for Coup-Proofing Regimes

Prevailing accounts of alliance formation emphasize either external threats or domestic politics, without an explicit consideration of how the two factors might interact. Instead, this paper theorizes about a specific type of interaction: coup-prevention strategies in nondemocratic regimes and external threats. Through quantitative analyses using the Alliance Treaty Obligations and Provisions (ATOP) and the State Security Forces (SSF) data, we find that “coup-proofing” reduces the probability of alliance formation when potential allies are under high external threat and that this effect is driven by the coup-proofing regime’s reduced capability to defend their allies, rather than the regime’s increased vulnerability to aggression. Furthermore, we find evidence for the interactive relationship at the negotiation stage of alliance formation. Upon entering an alliance, a coup-proofing regime facing a higher level of external threat offers more policy concessions to the ally, whereas an ally under higher threat could make fewer concessions to the coup-proofing regime. Our study highlights the way nondemocratic domestic political institutions can interact with external threat to shape states’ alliance behavior.

China’s State-Business Relationship with Nigeria: Neocolonialism or Strategic Cooperation

By comparing the colonial era under the British colonization and Chinese presence in Nigeria, this study challenges the so-called “neo-colonialism” regarding Chinese activities in Nigeria and argues that China and Nigeria have a strategic cooperation which pursues each political and economic benefits through analyzing China’s state-business relationship with Nigeria. Regarding studying China–Africa relationship, this study emphasizes to focus on specific African countries’ domestic history, social development, and political and economic institutions. The paper contributes to the existing literature by involving the study on Nigeria’s domestic political situations and social institutions and how these link with Chinese engagement in Nigeria.

Проблема консолідації суспільства в контексті євроінтеграційних прагнень України: основні виклики

Розглянуто низку аспектів проблеми консолідації українського суспільства у контексті курсу держави на європейську інтеграцію та в умовах боротьби із гібридною агресією Російської Федерації (далі – РФ). Запропоновано авторське бачення змісту поняття консолідації суспільства. Показано, що першою перешкодою просуванню консолідаційних процесів є культурно-ціннісні відмінності між різними регіонами країни, які набули політичних вимірів. Зазначено, що інші важливі аспекти проблеми консолідації формують криза довіри громадян до влади, недоліки механізмів зворотного зв’язку між владою та громадами, а також укорінені у вітчизняному політичному просторі популістські елементи політичної поведінки.

Trust Nobody: How Voters React to Conspiracy Theories

AbstractHow does exposure to conspiracy theories affects voters’ political attitudes? Using an online experiment among US subjects, we show that exposure to conspiracy theories decreases voters’ trust in the domestic informational environment. Subjects were exposed to conspiracy theories that are entirely unrelated to American domestic politics, which further underscores such narratives’ danger. However, we fail to reject the null hypothesis that voters do not weigh unrelated conspiracies in their evaluation of politicians’ performance and domestic political institutions. Overall, our findings illustrate that an informational environment permeated by conspiracy theories could impede the functioning of democracy by eroding trust in information providers and undermining the credibility of political information.

Interests, Institutions, and the Environment: An Examination of Fisheries Subsidies

Abstract Protecting the environment has emerged as one of the major challenges in international relations. In international environmental negotiations, countries hold divergent positions because of domestic politics and specifically the interaction of interests and institutions. Domestic political institutions privilege the interests of some groups over others, depending on their geographic distribution. This observation matters for global environmental cooperation because groups with varied interests in protecting the environment often exhibit different geographic patterns, as illustrated in negotiations over fisheries subsidies at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The fishing industry tends to be concentrated in geographic space because of its reliance on a geographically specific natural resource. The industry’s geographic concentration gives it relatively more political clout in countries with plurality electoral systems. Environmentalists, who tend to be more diffuse geographically, enjoy greater political influence in countries with proportional representation systems and party-centered electoral competition. These political dynamics, as well as the electoral success of Green political parties, influence governments’ spending priorities as well as states’ positions in international environmental negotiations.

Energizing Comparative Environmental Politics and Comparative Political Economy

Energizing Comparative Environmental Politics and Comparative Political Economy

Environmental Degradation and Human Rights Violation: A Cursory Overview of the Potential of the Existing Frameworks to Hold Multinational Corporations Accountable

It has been reported that an estimated 100,000 multinational corporations (MNCs) account for about a quarter of the global gross domestic product (GDP), generating a turnover which exceeds, by leaps and bounds, the public budget of many countries. Unfortunately, the manner of operation of the ever-expanding MNCs appears to engender rampant environmental degradation and wanton human rights violations in host nations. Even though frameworks aiming to regulate the activities of these corporations are in place, the effectiveness of the said regulatory mechanisms has been vociferously challenged, time and again, by academics and experts across the globe. Drawing on a range of pertinent case law as well as secondary sources, this article attempts to critically explore, and navigate, the extent to which the existing regulatory frameworks have been effective in holding MNCs accountable for their environment and human rights-related transgressions. The article establishes that the extant regulatory mechanisms have, to some extent, however miniscule, helped to promulgate awareness and inculcate environmental and human rights issues into corporate culture. It, however, demonstrates that these frameworks are grossly inadequate owing to the complex nature of the MNCs, the overtly broad and obscure nature of the existing international instruments and the reeking corruption in domestic political and judicial institutions. It recommends the codification of binding documents, backed by adequate compliance mechanisms, and the creation of an International Court having special jurisdiction over all MNCs.

International Trade, Cooperation, and Conflict: The Role of Institutions and Capabilities

Abstract In this paper, we reconcile divergent theories linking trade to conflict—opportunity costs and costly signaling on the one hand versus dependence and coercion on the other hand. We argue that variation in domestic political institutions and state capabilities can condition how international trade affects conflictual or cooperative political relationships. When institutions result in a more nationally representative constituency, trade has a relatively more negative association with conflict, whereas deviation from this institutional arrangement reduces the pacifying impact of trade. The presence of greater military capabilities incentivizes leaders to use trade as a lever to advance other state interests. As such, for more powerful states, trade is associated with relatively more conflict and cooperation. We find support for our expectations in statistical tests spanning 1994–2012.

Globalization, political institutions, and social spending on human capital upgrading in ASEAN

AbstractMost of the middle‐income ASEAN member countries have extensively expanded their social protection and service systems during the past three to four decades. Recent studies on globalization have largely argued that increased exposure to the global economy strengthens the demand for social policy and spending to expand human capabilities. However, empirical tests on the effects of globalization on social policy have been inconclusive. It is shown in this paper that the effect of globalization on social policy and spending in ASEAN is conditioned by domestic political institutions. Greater openness to international trade, together with democratic openings, provides strong incentives for greater attention to social policy and issues. Further openness to intraregional and interregional trade and the strengthening of democratic institutions, therefore, could increase pressure on the human capital upgrading of ASEAN member countries.

The European Economic Constitution in Crisis: A Conservative Transformation

The original constitution of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) rested on a neoliberal approach to interstate federalism à la Hayek. This approach appealed to political elites at the time of the Maastricht Treaty, promising to overcome the so-called ‘crisis of governability’ of the 1970s and early 1980s by constraining the capacity of Member States to respond to democratic demands, without at the same time constructing a comprehensive governmental apparatus at the European level. The original EMU thus sought to delink democratic legitimation from governmental capacity and to constrain what capacity was left. The Eurozone Crisis, however, introduced a ‘crisis of ungovernability,’ revealing that the original constitutional framework had failed in several respects. In efforts to salvage it, European and domestic political elites and institutions sought to correct the capacity deficit but only while imposing, in an authoritarian fashion, neoliberal policies and reforms. While early signs in response to the Covid-19 crisis suggest that the ‘new EMU’ permits a departure from neoliberal prescriptions, the other deficit of EMU is as glaring as ever: democracy remains a problem to be overcome rather than a potential to be realised.

Incentivizing embedded investment: Evidence from patterns of foreign direct investment in Latin America

Governments frequently offer tax incentives to induce localized investments. This is puzzling because previous research finds tax incentives are rarely decisive factors in firms’ locational decision-making. Some argue incentives reflect hyper capital mobility, which strengthens multinational enterprises’ bargaining leverage vis-a-vis governments that wish to attract investment. Others emphasize the domestic political institutions and electoral considerations that incentivize politicians to publicly court investors. We argue that firms’ leverage over governments stems from investment characteristics associated with governments’ broader development objectives. We test our argument on deal-level data on investment incentives in Latin America from 2010 to 2017. Our results indicate firms are more likely to receive incentives when they are already embedded in local markets and when they exhibit characteristics associated with low ex post mobility. These results challenge widely held beliefs over what provides firms political power in an age of globalization, and suggest that governments use incentives primarily to fulfill their economic and political objectives rather than because globalization destroys states’ capacity to tax mobile capital.

Tariffs As Electoral Weapons: The Political Geography of the US–China Trade War

AbstractIn response to President Trump instigating conflict over trade with China, the Chinese government countered by issuing tariffs on thousands of products worth over USD 110 billion in US exports. We explore whether China's tariffs reflected a strategy to apply counterpressure by hurting political support for the president's party. We also assess the strategy's impact on the 2018 midterm elections and examine the mechanism underlying the resulting electoral shift. We find strong evidence that Chinese tariffs systematically targeted US goods that had production concentrated in Republican-supporting counties, particularly when located in closely contested Congressional districts. This apparent strategy was successful: targeted areas were more likely to turn against Republican candidates. Using data on campaign communications, local search patterns online, and an original national survey, we find evidence that voters residing in areas affected by the tariffs were more likely to learn about the trade war, recognize its adverse impact, and assign the Republicans responsibility for the escalating dispute. These findings demonstrate how domestic political institutions can be a source of vulnerability in interstate disputes.

Foundations of an Authoritarian Populism in an International Context

The rise of populism, and its subsequent challenge to liberal democratic institutions, is an ongoing feature of twenty-first century global politics. The author contends that providing college students with theoretical tools to untangle the relationship between the logic and practices of domestic populist political movements and liberal democratic institutions empowers them to analyze critically those challenges and consider the extent to which populism is indicative of prior institutional failure. The work of Antonio Gramsci and Ernesto Laclau are used to develop a model of populism appropriate for advanced undergraduate international relations students. The cases of the Tea Party, Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Victor Orbán’s rise in Hungary demonstrate the dynamics of the model and its relevance to the study of international relations and foreign policy.

The Politics of Power and Natural Gas in Tanzania: How Political Settlement Dynamics Shapes Deals in a ‘New Oil’ Country

While research suggests that the rise in global oil prices from 2004 to 2014 strengthens the bargaining position of new ‘oil country’ governments, this paper suggests that the structure of deals is also significantly influenced by domestic political dynamics. By analysing the development of the petroleum sector through three sets of deals in a new oil country, mainland Tanzania, it demonstrates how changes in domestic political and economic interests and institutions influence deals. First, greater control was exercised over rents generated from the petroleum sector as a moderate kind of resource nationalism emerged, driven by corruption scandals and intensified electoral competition. From 2010, resource nationalism became radicalised, enabled by major offshore gas finds and Chinese loan capital. However, when global oil prices crashed, the ruling coalition, which had since 2010 become both more vulnerable and more authoritarian, increasingly struggled to finance its plans to take increased control over the petroleum sector. At the same time, the oil and gas companies saw the terms of deals becoming more unpredictable and unstable. A complicating factor in this regard is the materiality of natural gas and its links to energy production, which opens the sector to a wider range of interest groups than oil per se, and created difficulties for the authorities in coordinating the development of the sector in the context of a shifting policy environment and weak institutions. In the paper we analyse three sets of deals for the commercialisation of natural gas, which cover much of Tanzania’s recent petroleum history.

The Fukushima effect at home: The changing role of domestic actors in Japanese energy policy

AbstractThis paper reviews the changing role of domestic political institutions, including local governments and courts, in Japan's energy policy over the 8 years since the Fukushima disaster, focusing on the nuclear and renewable power industries. We explain how a variety of hidden subsidies created financial dependency in communities hosting nuclear power plants and led to local officials hoping to restart nuclear power plants after the meltdowns despite wide‐scale opposition. Later, the introduction of a feed‐in tariff (FiT) brought a wider range of towns into the field of renewable energy, but vulnerable towns with weaker social networks continue to bear a large share of Japan's energy infrastructure. Courts, prefectures, and local firms have become intervening agents in the renewable energy market, but utilities have pushed back, encouraging the state to overturn the FiT and create auctions for renewable power contracts instead. With subnational governments and courts more powerful in energy policy since the meltdowns, and a variety of new actors involved in renewable energy, post‐Fukushima energy policy has become more democratized.This article is categorized under: The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Decarbonizing Energy and/or Reducing Demand