Over recent decades national environmental policies have converged. This book analyses the international and domestic driving forces behind this process.

This book examines the coordination of renewable energy policies in the European Union using an innovative theoretical approach to explain national policy making. David Jacobs asks, why are national support instruments for electricity from renewable energy sources converging, even though the harmonisation of these frameworks at the European level has failed? Which causal mechanisms lead to cross-national policy similarities? And what are the implications for policy coordination in the EU? The author traces the evolution of feed-in tariffs - the most successful and most widely used support mechanism for renewable electricity - in Germany, Spain and France. He reveals increasing cross-national policy similarities in feed-in tariff design - despite the failure of harmonizing instruments at the European level. He explains these increasing policy similarities by applying policy convergence theory. Policy convergence can occur voluntarily, based on transnational communication, regulatory competition and technological innovations and these findings have important implications for European policy steering. The key to this book is the interrelation of an innovative theoretical concept (coordination of policies in the international arena via voluntary cooperation) with a very topical empirical research focus - the promotion of renewable energies in the EU. It will be essential reading for scholars and students of environmental policy, comparative politics and European studies.

Has globalization led to a convergence in policy-making across nations and, if so, what are the causal mechanisms? This book analyses the extent to which the environmental policies of nation states have converged over the last thirty years and whether this convergence has led to a strengthening or weakening of environmental standards (a race to the top, or a race to the bottom). It also analyses the factors that account for these developments. Based on a unique empirical data set, the study covers the development of a wide range of environmental policies in twenty-four OECD countries, including EU member states as well as Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico and the USA, with particular emphasis on the impact of institutional and economic interlinkages among these countries.

A critical analysis of the post-Rio consensus on environment and development which questions the role of particular forms of internationalized elite scientific expertise. It asks why certain understandings of environmental change stick with such tenacity. In exploring this, the authors unravel the politics of knowledge surrounding policymaking, looking particularly at Ethiopia, Mali and Zimbabwe and their land and soils management. The book also looks at prospects for more inclusive, participatory forms of policymaking.

This Handbook provides a systematic overview of the study of policy styles provided by leading experts in the field. The book unites theoretical bases and advancements in practice, ranging from the fundamentals of policy styles to its place in greater policy studies, and responds to new questions regarding policy style dynamics across a range of government levels and activities, including contemporary trends affecting styles such as the use of digital tools and big data in government. It is a comprehensive reference for students and scholars of public policy. Key features: consolidates and advances the contemporary body of knowledge on policy styles and defines its distinctiveness within broader policy studies; provides a detailed picture of national policy styles in a wide range of countries as well as insights concerning sectoral and other kinds of styles within countries, including executive styles and styles of policy advice; systematically explores questions dealing with how policy styles impact policy goals, and the realization of policies, including how styles affect instruments choices and impact; provides a guide to future comparative research pathways and cross-sectoral dialogue on the concept and practice of policy styles. The Routledge Handbook Policy Styles is essential reading and an authoritative reference for scholars, students, researchers and practitioners of public policy, public administration, public management as well as for comparative politics and government, public organizations and individual policy areas such as health policy, welfare policy, industrial policy, environmental policy, among others.

The second edition of The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law is a sophisticated yet highly readable introduction to how international environmental law works (and sometimes doesn't work). It provides critical updates on developments in the field that have occurred in the 13 years since the first edition was published.

The C&C framework, which was been pioneered and advocated by GCI at the United Nations throughout the 1990s, is the most widely supported framework proposal in the global debate on what to do about climate change.

This ground-breaking study offers a new paradigm for understanding the beliefs and religions of the Goths, Burgundians, Sueves, Franks and Lombards as they converted from paganism to Christianity between c.350 and c.700 CE. Combining history and theology with approaches drawn from the cognitive science of religion, Belief and Religion in Barbarian Europe uses both written and archaeological evidence to challenge many older ideas. Beginning with a re-examination of our knowledge about the deities and rituals of their original religions, it goes on to question the assumption that the Germanic peoples were merely passive recipients of Christian doctrine, arguing that so-called 'Arianism' was first developed as an 'entry-level' Christianity for the Goths. Focusing on individual ethnic groupings in turn, it presents a fresh view of the relationship between religion and politics as their rulers attempted to opt for Catholicism. In place of familiar debates about post-conversion 'pagan survivals', contemporary texts and legislation are analysed to create an innovative cognitive perspective on the ways in which the Church endeavoured to bring the Christian God into people's thoughts and actions. The work also includes a survey of a wide range of written and archaeological evidence, contrasting traditional conceptions of death, afterlife and funerary ritual with Christian doctrine and practice in these areas and exploring some of the techniques developed by the Church for assuaging popular anxieties about Christian burial and the Christian afterlife.

A holistic and extensive exploration of both the dynamic and incremental changes in EU public policy and the decision processes surrounding them, this Elgar Encyclopedia is the definitive reference work in the field of EU public policy.

A comprehensive introduction to public policy and the policy cycle, the fully revised second edition of this popular textbook offers a practical guide to the topic while remaining underpinned by cutting-edge research. Bringing together analysis of classic works alongside the most recent developments in the field, this book is guided by the following three crucial questions: What is public policy? Who participates in making and putting public policy in practice as well as in assessing its success? And when and how does public policy change over time? In answering these questions, the book covers everything from the central institutions and actors of policy-making to implementation, evaluation and governance. Drawing on examples from across the world, the new edition expands on themes that were previously covered only marginally, including the underexplored connection between public policy and political economy, as well as placing more emphasis on climate change and practical advice on doing policy analysis. For undergraduate or postgraduate students studying on courses focussed on public policy or the policy cycle or process, this textbook is the essential guide to the subject. The book is also suited for those studying public policy in the context of politics or public management and administration. New to this Edition: - A revised conclusion containing guidance on how to do policy analysis. - Extended discussion of climate policy and politics. - Consideration of the effects of Brexit, the rise of populism and the impact of the loss of faith in globalization for international organizations. - More on policy process theories, comparative public policy, the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of public policy studies and new methodologies such as the evaluation of policy measures by means of social media data.