The black box of power in polycentric environmental governance

T. H. Morrison; W. N. Adger; K. Brown; M. C. Lemos; D. Huitema; J. Phelps; L. Evans; P. Cohen; A. M. Song; R. Turner; T. Quinn; T. P. Hughes

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101934

The black box of power in polycentric environmental governance

T. H. Morrison^*, W. N. Adger, K. Brown, M. C. Lemos, D. Huitema, J. Phelps, L. Evans, P. Cohen, A. M. Song, R. Turner, T. Quinn, T. P. Hughes

^*Corresponding author for this work

Environmental Policy Analysis

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Short survey › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Failure to address unsustainable global change is often attributed to failures in conventional environmental governance. Polycentric environmental governance—the popular alternative—involves many centres of authority interacting coherently for a common governance goal. Yet, longitudinal analysis reveals many polycentric systems are struggling to cope with the growing impacts, pace, and scope of social and environmental change. Analytic shortcomings are also beginning to appear, particularly in the treatment of power. Here we draw together diverse social science perspectives and research into a variety of cases to show how different types of power shape rule setting, issue construction, and policy implementation in polycentric governance. We delineate an important and emerging research agenda for polycentric environmental governance, integrating diverse types of power into analytical and practical models.

Original language	English
Article number	101934
Pages (from-to)	1-8
Number of pages	8
Journal	Global Environmental Change
Volume	57
Early online date	20 Jun 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101934
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2019

Funding

Funding was provided by the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence Program ( CE140100020 ) and an Australian Laureate Fellowship to T.H. This work also contributes to the CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agrifood Systems (FISH) supported by contributors to the CGIAR Trust Fund .

Funders	Funder number
Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence Program	CE140100020
CGIAR

Keywords

Environmental governance
Polycentric governance
Power

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10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101934

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title = "The black box of power in polycentric environmental governance",

abstract = "Failure to address unsustainable global change is often attributed to failures in conventional environmental governance. Polycentric environmental governance—the popular alternative—involves many centres of authority interacting coherently for a common governance goal. Yet, longitudinal analysis reveals many polycentric systems are struggling to cope with the growing impacts, pace, and scope of social and environmental change. Analytic shortcomings are also beginning to appear, particularly in the treatment of power. Here we draw together diverse social science perspectives and research into a variety of cases to show how different types of power shape rule setting, issue construction, and policy implementation in polycentric governance. We delineate an important and emerging research agenda for polycentric environmental governance, integrating diverse types of power into analytical and practical models.",

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AU - Morrison, T. H.

AU - Adger, W. N.

AU - Brown, K.

AU - Lemos, M. C.

AU - Huitema, D.

AU - Phelps, J.

AU - Evans, L.

AU - Cohen, P.

AU - Song, A. M.

AU - Turner, R.

AU - Quinn, T.

AU - Hughes, T. P.

PY - 2019/7/1

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N2 - Failure to address unsustainable global change is often attributed to failures in conventional environmental governance. Polycentric environmental governance—the popular alternative—involves many centres of authority interacting coherently for a common governance goal. Yet, longitudinal analysis reveals many polycentric systems are struggling to cope with the growing impacts, pace, and scope of social and environmental change. Analytic shortcomings are also beginning to appear, particularly in the treatment of power. Here we draw together diverse social science perspectives and research into a variety of cases to show how different types of power shape rule setting, issue construction, and policy implementation in polycentric governance. We delineate an important and emerging research agenda for polycentric environmental governance, integrating diverse types of power into analytical and practical models.

AB - Failure to address unsustainable global change is often attributed to failures in conventional environmental governance. Polycentric environmental governance—the popular alternative—involves many centres of authority interacting coherently for a common governance goal. Yet, longitudinal analysis reveals many polycentric systems are struggling to cope with the growing impacts, pace, and scope of social and environmental change. Analytic shortcomings are also beginning to appear, particularly in the treatment of power. Here we draw together diverse social science perspectives and research into a variety of cases to show how different types of power shape rule setting, issue construction, and policy implementation in polycentric governance. We delineate an important and emerging research agenda for polycentric environmental governance, integrating diverse types of power into analytical and practical models.

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The black box of power in polycentric environmental governance

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