PROFESSOR JONAS NAHM RECIPIENT OF 2018 EVAN RINGQUIST AWARD

PROFESSOR JONAS NAHM RECIPIENT OF 2018 EVAN RINGQUIST AWARD

Assistant Professor of Energy, Resources and Environment Jonas Nahm is the recipient of the 2018 Evan Ringquist Award, which is given by the Science, Technology & Environmental Politics Section of the American Political Science Association for the best paper published in the last two years.

“The Power of Process: State Capacity and Climate Policy,” co-authored with Jonas Meckling, Assistant Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, examines strategies to overcome opposition from vested interest in climate policymaking. The paper shows that the division of labor between the bureaucracy and legislature in policy formulation is a critical source of state capacity. Using the cases of California and Germany, Professors Nahm and Meckling demonstrate that differences in the policymaking process can decide if climate ambitions turn into climate actions.

The paper suggests the need for policymakers to become savvy on how to protect long-term climate policy-making from too powerful lobbyists. Strong regulatory agencies are key, but only if policymakers learn to utilize their strengths, the award-winning paper shows.

The award was presented at the section business meeting at the 2018 conference of the American Political Science Association in Boston, Massachusetts.

Read the full paper here.