“Democratic Theory and Climate Change” is a national project led by our fellow Lluís Orriols and funded through a grant by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2021-127984OA-I00, 2022-2025).
Climate change is one of the main challenges facing humanity in the coming decades. Scientists and international organizations are urging governments to cooperate and promote policies against global warming. Given the magnitude and urgency of the environmental crisis, political scientists must put their knowledge and tools of the discipline to better understand the phenomenon and help to contribute to its resolution. The aim of this research project is to do it so by investigating the relationship between public opinion and climate change by trying to answer the following question: under what circumstances do citizens hold their governments accountable for climate change fight? This research question has both a practical and a theoretical interest. From a practical point of view, exploring how citizens attribute responsibilities in the field of climate change will help us to have a better understanding about incumbents incentives to promote climate change policies. From a theoretical point of view, the study of the relationship between public opinion and the attribution of responsibility for climate change may offer us relevant insights to rethink some classic postulates of democratic theory on accountability.
