The Case of Switzerland in the Worldwide Diffusion of Environmental Policies PDF Download

Author: Peter Stutz
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Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
New legislation, so called "policy innovations", impact on the liberty of individuals and organizations by altering the framework in which the addressees of the new laws operate. From this perspective, it is crucial to understand the adoption mechanisms of policy innovations. This paper analyzes the adoption of environmental policy innovations by Switzerland as a case in the worldwide diffusion of environmental policy innovations. Particularly, this paper investigates the factors that influence the likelihood and timing of adoption of a policy innovation by Switzerland and the potential influencing countries on the adoption. For this purpose, the adoption or non-adoption of 40 environmental policies by Switzerland in three decades is analyzed. In deviation from diffusion studies, the theoretical framework in this paper employs the policy eligible to be adopted by Switzerland as the unit of analysis. The quantitative analysis, three regression models and one descriptive analysis, and a macro oriented case study deliver interesting findings: External factors, constituted by the policy making of other countries and their linkages to Switzerland, and domestic political demand are determinant for the question, if a policy is adopted by Switzerland; the resources/ obstacles available and the characteristics of the policy for the timing of adoption; and the linkages to Switzerland and the policy innovation potential of the other countries for the potential origins of influence on the adoption by Switzerland.