Revisiting multi-level governance theory: Politics and innovation in the urban climate transition in Rizhao, China

Multi-level governance (MLG) theory has become the main explanation for how climate action is realized in polycentric, multi-sector, multi-actor policy landscapes. In this paper, we examine processes of climate change governance in a given city in China, Rizhao, and evaluate how MLG arrangements ope...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPolitical geography Vol. 70; pp. 14 - 23
Main Authors Westman, Linda Katrin, Castán Broto, Vanesa, Huang, Ping
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2019
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Case studies
China
Cities
Climate change
Coalitions
Deliberative democracy
Democracy
Democratization
Governance
Innovations
Interest groups
Local authorities
Multi-level governance
NGOs
Nongovernmental organizations
Political participation
Political power
Political systems
Politics
Power
Transnationalism
China
Climate change
Politics
Multi-level governance
Cities
China
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Summary:Multi-level governance (MLG) theory has become the main explanation for how climate action is realized in polycentric, multi-sector, multi-actor policy landscapes. In this paper, we examine processes of climate change governance in a given city in China, Rizhao, and evaluate how MLG arrangements operate. We do so by examining primary data collected through in-depth interviews with local stakeholders. Our results show that the focus on multi-level – and in particular transnational – interactions obscures the ways in which urban low carbon transitions happen in three ways. First, in spite of Rizhao being a well-known case in environmental politics, there is an absence of international actors and non-governmental organizations operating on the ground. Second, the emphasis on opportunities of local authorities to build political agendas through participation in global networks conceals how structures of power, political-economic coalitions, and technological practices are firmly fixed in a local context. Third, the case study illustrates the enduring authority of formal top-down channels of control in this political system. Based on these results, we caution against the uncritical application of MLG theory to environmental politics in settings where deliberative democracy is lacking and the full benefits of multi-level interactions are unlikely to be achieved.
ISSN:0962-6298
1873-5096
DOI:10.1016/j.polgeo.2019.01.002