Sustainable development between international and domestic forces. A comparative analysis of subnational policies

Sustainable development is the international communitys answer to a series of societal and environmental problems that are linked to global patterns of production and consumption. Since the 1970s, mankind has been trying to find adequate solutions to issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, energy and food scarcity, large-scale environmental degradation and social injustice. The global policy responses that are developed, need to be carried out at lower levels of governance. Sustainable development, however, is a contested concept, and many challenges arise when policy-makers try to put it into practice. This dissertation looks at the efforts of subnational governments. Situated between the national and the local level of governance, those actors have been understudied in the literature. That is surprising, since in several countries they have important responsibilities in key areas, and many of them have initiated sustainable development policies. The dissertation addresses two questions. A preliminary research question looks into what the sustainable development policies of subnational governments exactly are, to fill a research gap in the literature. Subsequently, the core research question investigates which factors explain the choices that are made in subnational sustainable development policies, as first observations indicate a variety of governmental responses. Therefore, the research has both a descriptive and an explana­tory aim, through which it wants to inform a more systematic knowledge of sustainable development at the subnational level of govern­ance. The theoretical foundation of this research consists of the study of three theoretical traditions, in order to identify the factors that explain subnational sustainable development policies. First, the literature on policy convergence and divergence (situated in the field of comparative policy analysis) offers causal explanations on the similarity or dissimilarity among policies. Second, the literature on governance for sustainable development is looked at for policy-specific characteristics and for the insights it offers regarding how particular features of a country or entity influence how it implements sustainable development. Third, the literature on comparative regionalism and federalism is added to account for the specificity of the subnational level and the factors that influence policies of subnational governments. From the combination of those theoretical traditions, four main explanatory factors were distilled: international influence, degree of autonomy, political context and socioeconomic conditions. Sustainable development policies, the unit of analysis in this study, were further subdi­vided into three policy dimensions, which focus on policy content. As a first dimension, policy framing refers to how govern­ments interpret sustainable development and give meaning to it as a policy problem. The dimension was constructed out of the observation that the understanding of sustainable develop­ment is often problematic and gives rise to multiple interpretations. Second, I looked at the different policy goals of subnational sustainable development policies, and analyzed their main characteristics. A final policy dimension consisted of the various policy instruments that are put in place to attain the goals. Furthermore, in addition to the focus on policy content, the analysis traced the process leading up to the institutionalization of the sustainable development policies.In order to study the explanatory power of the four factors with respect to subnational sustainable development policies, a comparative case study analysis of the policies of five subnational governments was proposed: Quebec, Flanders, Wallonia, North Rhine-Westphalia and North Holland. A within-case analysis of each separate case was followed by a cross-case analysis in which the findings were systematically compared. Both parts of the analysis were informed by the descriptive as well as the explanatory research question. The analysis showed a broad variety of policy initiatives, some of which were innovative and inspiring. However, the subnational sustainable development policies, overall, paint a grim picture. With regard to the policy framing, the results are ambiguous. At a superficial level, the interpretation of sustainable development reflects the internationally accepted definition in all cases. The analysis suggests that subnational sustainable development policies were put in place because of the existence of a certain policy gap, in other words, subnational government felt that they needed to do something for sustainable development. Beneath the surface, however, the policy framing perpetuates the vagueness of sustainable development, as none of the subnational governments succeeds in creating a uniform interpretation that is shared by all governmental actors. Another ambivalence was observed in the analysis of policy goals. On the one hand, sustainable development is translated into strategic policy goals that mirror the international ambitions for fundamental changes in the worlds prevailing modes of development. On the other hand, those strategic goals are met by much weaker operational policy goals, which do not propose much more than marginal changes, if any. The policy instruments that are applied for sustainable development constitute a mix of generally cautious, noncommittal and non-binding tools. As a consequence, subnational sustainable development policies are conceived as policies that merely inform, persuade, stimulate and at best assist governmental (and in some cases non-governmental) actors to pursue sustainable development. The analysis revealed a preference for institutional instruments (administrative tools and planning documents) and for rewarding economic instruments with a limited scope. However, numerous problems were uncovered with regard to the instruments enforcement.The core of the research interest was explanatory. It was concluded that the political context in which subnational governments operate, is the principal explanatoryfactor. An initial dose of political will (exhibited by certain political parties or by individual policy entrepreneurs) is a precondition to bring the concept onto the agenda. At the same time, however, subnational governments lack the necessary political will to consistently assume the logic of sustainable development. As a result, their policies have a low salience and do not exceed the margins of day-to-day politics. The international influence was also a prominent factor. Different kinds of transnational pressures were instrumental in triggering sustainable development policies, and in shaping their content in some cases. The international influence is greater in the case of subnational entities that have a distinct territorial identity (in my sample, Quebec and Flanders) and if they have actively participated in international decision-making themselves. Furthermore, the degree of autonomy of subnational governments sets the boundaries for the thematic areas of their policy goals and for their potential policy instruments. The policies range form a restricted initiative with limited instruments targeting a few selected themes in the case of North Holland (with a low degree of autonomy), to a quasi-national policy with a broad range of themes and a wide series of policy instruments in the case of Quebec (with a very high degree of autonomy). However, the factor was unable to explain some of the weaknesses and missed opportunities that were noted in all five cases. Finally, socioeconomic conditions were found to have only a very limited explanatory power. Most importantly, the institutionalization of sustainable development can be obstructed if a subnational governments attention is predominantly aimed at economic recovery.Based on the findings, an analytical model for explaining subnational sustainable development policies was presented, depicting the explanatory power of each of the four factors with regard to the policies and the three policy dimensions, containing also some interrelations between the factors that have been uncovered by the research. Accompanied by four refined hypotheses, that analytical model can now be used to guide further research in the field.Mainly because of a general lack of political will to touch the core driving forces of sustainable development, the policies today are characterized by symbolic politics. The dissertation makes a plea for overcoming that symbolic character, by pointing out some of the most pressing obstacles, such as the noncommittal approach and the superficial nature of current policies.

Jaar van publicatie:2011

Toegankelijkheid:Closed