In a recently published paper by Thea Riofrancos on the relation between regime types and climate action, she goes into the possible tensions between the necessary consistency required for economic planning and the “bounded uncertainty” of democratic elections. She also suggests that building widespread popular support for climate action is key to tackle this tension and building said required consistency. Here is the relevant section:
“Although there is no inherent incompatibility between planning and democracy—and indeed, democratizing the economy while also confronting climate change would likely involve something like planning—there are surely tensions between planning and electoral turnover. How can governments demonstrate credible commitments to economic plans when a functional democracy entails “bounded uncertainty” about which parties and politicians will be in office in the future? For this reason, building popular support for energy-transition policies is essential: Key to their durability is their popularity among voters, which in turn hinges on ordinary people seeing concrete improvements in their daily lives. This fact turns the multiplex temporality of democracy on its head. Collective self-rule is surely open-ended and iterative, which aligns well with the uncertainty (tipping points and threshold effects) and longue durée features of climate change.”
The paper can be found here.
Article Title:
The Perils of Climate Alarmism
Author:
Thea Riofrancos
Language:
English
Abstract:
This essay examines the relationship between regime type and climate action, challenging the notion that authoritarian governments are better equipped to address the climate crisis. The author argues that democracies possess unique advantages in managing complex environmental challenges through dynamic information flows, vertical accountability, and multiplex political temporality. While acknowledging China’s significant progress in renewable energy deployment, the analysis emphasizes that these achievements stem from specific institutional features rather than from authoritarianism itself. The essay concludes that effective climate action requires connecting planetary well-being to tangible improvements in daily life through democratic processes, grassroots organization, and positive policy feedback loops.
Publication:
Journal of Democracy
Volume 36, Number 1, January 2025
Johns Hopkins University Press