ABSTRACT. The long-term character of climate change and the high costs of adaptation measures, in combination with their uncertain effects, turn climate adaptation governance into a torturous process. We systematically review the literature on climate adaptation governance to analyze the scholarly understanding of these complexities. Building on governance literature about long-term and complex policy problems, we develop a conceptual matrix based on the dimensions knowledge and power to systematically study the peer-reviewed literature on climate adaptation governance. We find that about a quarter of the reviewed journal articles do not address the knowledge or power dimension of the governance of climate change adaptation, about half of the articles discuss either the knowledge or the power dimension, and another quarter discuss both knowledge and power. The articles that do address both knowledge and power (1) conceptualize the governance of climate adaptation mainly as a complex system of regulatory frameworks and technical knowledge, (2) assume that regulatory systems can be easily adapted to new knowledge, (3) pay little attention to fluid or unorganized forms of power, e.g., negotiation, and knowledge, e.g., learning, and (4) largely neglect the interplay between the two. We argue that more research on this interplay is needed, and we discuss how puzzling and powering are a promising pair of concepts to study this.
ABSTRACT. Adaptation to climate change can be an inclusive and collective, rather than an individual effort. The choice for collective arrangements is tied to a call for solidarity. We distinguish between one-sided (assisting community members in need) and two-sided solidarity (furthering a common interest) and between voluntary and compulsory solidarity. We assess the strength of solidarity as a basis for adaptation measures in six Dutch water management case studies. Traditionally, Dutch water management is characterized by compulsory two-sided solidarity at the water board level. Since the French times, the state is involved through compulsory national solidarity contributions to avoid societal disruption by major floods. In so far as this furthers a common interest, the contributions qualify as two-sided solidarity, but if it is considered assistance to flood-prone areas, they also qualify as one-sided solidarity. Although the Delta Programme explicitly continues on this path, our case studies show that solidarity continues to play an important role in Dutch water management in the process of adapting to a changing climate, but that an undifferentiated call for solidarity will likely result in debates over who should pay what and why. Such discussions can lead to cancellation or postponement of adaptation measures, which are not considered to be in the common interest or result in an increased reliance on local solidarity.
Securing access to affordable and nutritious food is an urgent topic on the agenda for development strategies in Africa. Intervention strategies targeting food security triggered a long lasting debate whether science and technology driven interventions could be the panacea for hunger eradication. However, contextual factors are extremely important in determining food security, as it is a location specific outcome of how biophysical, geographical, societal and political factors combine. Recent studies emphasize the important role of institutions to understand the persistence of food insecurity or to explain how different actors address food security. This article introduces a special issue that investigates approaches and methods, anchored in different institutionalisms, diagnosing how institutions influence food security levels in diverse African contexts. We draw two main lessons from this special issue. Firstly, there is a clear need for localized ex-ante institutional diagnostics to understand developments in food security in Africa. This can inform and guide decision-makers in designing locally appropriate interventions. Secondly, developing institutional diagnostics in view of sustainable food security requires theoretical triangulation; food insecurity is typically a problem emerging from a configuration of distinct processes. To develop a contextual and precise understanding of how institutions work and to identify what an institutional context 'is good at', the special issue argues in favour of an interdisciplinary approach in the social sciences that is strongly rooted in evolving practices (re)arranging institutions affecting food security.
In the emerging field of climate adaptation, deliberative governance initiatives are proposed to yield better adaptation strategies. However, introducing these network-centred deliberations between public and private players may contrast with traditions of interest intermediation between state and society. This paper shows how state traditions affect newly set up deliberative governance initiatives.Because of the similarities in geographical characteristics and the differences in state tradition we choose qualitative case studies in Dutch and British water management. Our comparison is two-fold.First, we compare deliberative governance initiatives in the different state traditions of the Netherlands and UK. Second, we compare the newly set up deliberative governance initiative to an existing policy regime mainstreaming climate adaptation in a similar state tradition, in our case the Netherlands. We find that: (1) Deliberative governance initiatives in the (neo-)corporatist state tradition of the Netherlands yields learning but shows apathy among politically elected decisionmakers compared to deliberative governance initiatives in the pluralist state tradition of the UK where clearly defined rules and responsibilities yields negotiation and action; (2) A typical corporatist policy regime mainstreaming climate adaption in a (neo-)corporatist state tradition yields effective and legitimate policy formation but lacks learning.
Although governments are developing and implementing policies to adapt to the impacts of climate change, it remains unclear which factors shape how states are developing these policies. This paper aims to assess whether or not administrative traditions matter for the formation of national climate change adaptation policy in 32 high-income countries. We operationalize administrative traditions based on five structural criteria: vertical dispersion of authority, horizontal coordination, interest mediation between state-society, role of public administrator, and how ideas enter bureaucracy. We construct a unique adaptation policy dataset that includes 32 high-income countries to test seven hypotheses. Our results indicate that countries' adaptation policies align to some extent with their administrative structure, particularly dispersion of authority and horizontal coordination. However, we find limited evidence that other public bureaucracy factors are related to national adaptation policy. We conclude that administrative traditions matter, but that their influence should not be overestimated. 行政传统对气候变化适应政策而言重要吗?一项关于32个高收入国家的比较分析尽管政府正在制定并实行相关政策来适应气候变化影响, 但目前尚不清楚的是, 哪些因素会对国家 如何发展政策一事产生影响。本文致力评估32个高收入国家中行政传统是否会影响国家气候变化 适应政策的形成。 作者基于5项结构性准则, 对行政传统进行了操作化。这些准则分别是: 权威的垂 直分散、横向协调、 国家和社会间的利益调解、 公共行政人员的作用、 以及不同观念如何进入官僚。 作者建构了一个包含32个高收入国家的独特适应政策数据集, 用于测试7项假设。测试结果显示, 各国的适应政策在一定程度上和各自的行政结构保持一致, 尤其是权威分散和横向协调。然而, 作 者发现, 其他公共官僚机构因素和国家适应政策之间没有太多的相关性。本文结论认为, 行政传统 固然重要, 但它们的影响也不应被夸大。 关键词: 行政传统, 公共官僚机构, 气候变化适应, 治理, 政策创新 881 bs_bs_banner A pesar de que los gobiernos estén desarrollando e implementando políticas para adaptarse a los impactos del cambio climático, no es todavía claro qué factores le dan forma a cómo los estados están desarrollando estas políticas. Este documento busca evaluar si las tradiciones administrativas importan al momento de formular las políticas nacionales de adaptación al cambio climático en 32 países de alto ingreso. Operacionalizamos las tradiciones administrativas basándonos en cinco criterios estructurales: la dispersión vertical de la autoridad, la coordinación horizontal, la mediación de intereses entre el estado y la sociedad, el papel que juega la administración pública y cómo las ideas entran en la burocracia. Construimos un set de datos único para las políticas de adaptación que incluye 32 países de alto ingreso para comprobar siete hipótesis. Nuestros resultados indican que las políticas de adaptación de los países están alineadas hasta cierto punto con su estructura administrativa, particularmente con la dispersión de la autoridad y con la coordinación horizontal. Sin embargo, encontramos evidencia limitada de que otros factores de la burocracia pública estén relacionados con la política de adaptación. Concluimos que las tradiciones administrativas importan, pero que su influencia no debería ser sobreestimada. PALABRAS CLAVE: tradiciones administrativas, burocracia pública, adaptación al cambio climático, gobernanza, innovación política
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