Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:36:57.562Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can policy forums overcome echo chamber effects by enabling policy learning? Evidence from the Irish climate change policy network

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2018

Paul M. Wagner  and
Tuomas Ylä-Anttila
Paul M. Wagner*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Finland
Tuomas Ylä-Anttila
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Finland
*
*Corresponding author. Email: paul.wagner.1@ucdconnect.ie
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Research has repeatedly shown that individuals and organisations tend to obtain information from others whose beliefs are similar to their own, forming “echo chambers” with their network ties. Echo chambers are potentially harmful for evidence-based policymaking as they can hinder policy learning and consensus building. Policy forums could help alleviate the effects of echo chambers if organisations with different views were to participate and to use the opportunities that forums provide to learn from those outside their networks. Applying exponential random graph models on survey data of the Irish climate change policy network, we find that policy actors do indeed tend to obtain policy advice from those whose beliefs are similar to their own. We also find that actors tend not to obtain policy advice from the those that they encounter at policy forums, suggesting forums are not enabling policy learning.

Keywords

climate changeecho chambersforumsIrelandpolicy learningpolicy networks
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 194 - 211
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ansell, C and Gash, A (2008) Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 18(4): 543–571.Google Scholar
Agrawala, Shardul (1999) Early Science-Policy Interactions in Climate Change: Lessons from the Advisory Group on Greenhouse Gases. Global Environmental Change 9(2): 157–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armitage, Derek, Marschke, Melissa and Plummer, Ryan (2008) Adaptive Co-Management and the Paradox of Learning. Global Environmental Change 18(1): 86–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baird, Julia, Plummer, Ryan, Haug, Constanze and Huitema, Dave (2014) Learning Effects of Interactive Decision-Making Processes for Climate Change Adaptation. Global Environmental Change 27(1): 51–63.Google Scholar
Birkland, Thomas A (2004) Learning and Policy Improvement After Disaster. American Behavioral Scientist 48(3): 341–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryer, J and Speerschneider, K (2016) Likert: Functions to Analyze and Visualize Likert Type Items. R Package Version 1.3.5. CRAN R project, https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/likert/likert.pdf.Google Scholar
Colleoni, Elanor, Rozza, Alessandro and Arvidsson, Adam (2014) Echo Chamber or Public Sphere? Predicting Political Orientation and Measuring Political Homophily in Twitter Using Big Data. Journal of Communication 64(2): 317–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cranmer, Skyler J, Leifeld, Philip, Mcclurg, Scott D and Rolfe, Meredith (2016) Navigating the Range of Statistical Tools for Inferential Network Analysis. American Journal of Political Science 61(1): 237–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crona, Beatrice I and Parker, John N (2012) Learning in Support of Governance: Theories, Methods, and a Framework to Assess How Bridging Organizations Contribute to Adaptive Resource Governance. Ecology and Society 17(1): 32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (2010) The Transposition of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Dublin: Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.Google Scholar
Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (2012) The Climate Policy Development Consultation. Dublin: Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.Google Scholar
Desmarais, Bruce A and Cranmer, Skyler J (2012) Micro-Level Interpretation of Exponential Random Graph Models with Application to Estuary Networks. Policy Studies Journal 40(3): 402–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dessie, Yinager, Wurzinger, Maria and Hauser, Michael (2012) The Role of Social Learning for Soil Conservation: The Case of Amba Zuria Land Management, Ethiopia. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 19(3): 258–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency (2017) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections 2016-2035, Non ETS Emissions and Projections Totals, and Annual Limits for 2013 to 2020. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/air/airemissions/ghgprojections (accessed 2 August 2017).Google Scholar
European Commission (2017) Renewable Energy Progress Report. Brussels: European Commission.Google Scholar
Eurostat (2017) Greenhouse Gas Emissions Per Capita, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=t2020_rd300&plugin=1 (accessed 20 May 2017).Google Scholar
Feiock, Richard C (2013) The Institutional Collective Action Framework. Policy Studies Journal 41(3): 397–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, Manuel, Ingold, Karin and Ivanova, Svetlana (2017) Information Exchange under Uncertainty: The Case of Unconventional Gas Development in the United Kingdom. Land Use Policy 67, 200–211.Google Scholar
Fischer, Manuel and Leifeld, Philip (2015) Policy Forums: Why Do They Exist and What Are They Used For? Policy Sciences 48(3): 363–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischer, Manuel and Sciarini, Pascal (2016) Drivers of Collaboration in Political Decision Making: A Cross-Sector Perspective. The Journal of Politics 78(1): 63–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folke, Carl, Hahn, Thomas, Olsson, Per and Norberg, Jon (2005) Adapative Governance of Socio-Ecological Systems. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 30(1): 441–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerber, Elisabeth R, Henry, Adam Douglas and Lubell, Mark (2013) Political Homophily and Collaboration in Regional Planning Networks. American Journal of Political Science 57(3): 598–610.Google Scholar
Gerlak, AK, Heikkila, T, Smolinski, SL, Huitema, D and Armitage, D (2018) Learning Our Way Out of Environmental Policy Problems: A Review of the Scholarship. Policy Sciences 51(3): 484–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodreau, SM, Handcock, MS, Hunter, DR, Butts, CT and Morris, M (2008) A Statnet Tutorial. Journal of Statistical Software 24(9): 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, PA and Taylor, RC (1996) Political Science and the Three Institutionalisms. Political Studies XLIV, 936–957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Peter A (1993) Policy Paradigms, Social Learning, and the State: The Case of Economic Policymaking in Britain. Comparative Politics 25(3): 275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heclo, Hugh (1974) Social Policy in Britain and Sweden. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Heikkila, Tanya and Gerlak, Andrea K (2013) Building a Conceptual Approach to Collective Learning: Lessons for Public Policy Scholars. Policy Studies Journal 41(3): 484–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, Adam Douglas (2016) Network Segregation and Policy Learning. In Victor JN, Montgomery AH and Lubell M (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Political Networks. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Henry, Adam Douglas and Dietz, Thomas (2012) Understanding Environmental Cognition. Organization & Environment 25(3): 238–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, Adam Douglas, Lubell, Mark and McCoy, Michael (2011) Belief Systems and Social Capital as Drivers of Policy Network Structure: The Case of California Regional Planning. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21(3): 419–444.Google Scholar
Hunter, David R (2007) Curved Exponential Family Models for Social Networks. Social Networks 29(2): 216–230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jasny, Lorien, Joseph, Waggle and Fisher, Dana R (2015) An Empirical Examination of Echo Chambers in US Climate Policy Networks. Nature Climate Change 5(8): 782–786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klijn, Erik-Hans, Joop, FM Koppenjan and Termeer, Katrien (1995) Managing Networks in the Public Sector: A Theoretical Study of Management Strategies in Policy Networks. Public Administration 73(3): 437–454.Google Scholar
Lee, Taedong and van de Meene, Susan (2012) Who Teaches and Who Learns? Policy Learning through the C40 Cities Climate Network. Policy Sciences 45(3): 199–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leifeld, Philip and Schneider, Volker (2012) Information Exchange in Policy Networks. American Journal of Political Science 56(3): 731–744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levesque, VR, Calhoun, AJ, Bell, KP and Johnson, TR (2017) Turning Contention into Collaboration: Engaging Power, Trust, and Learning in Collaborative Networks. Society & Natural Resources 30(2): 245–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, Conor (2017) Portrait of a Laggard? Environmental Politics and the Irish General Election of February 2016. Environmental Politics 26(1): 183–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, Conor and Torney, Diarmuid (2017) The Politics of Climate Change in Ireland: Symposium Introduction. Irish Political Studies 32(2): 191–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubell, Mark (2004) Collaborative Environmental Institutions: All Talk and No Action? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 23(3): 549–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
May, Peter J (1992) Policy Learning and Failure. Journal of Public Policy 12(04): 331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAllister, Ryan RJ, McCrea, Rod and Lubell, Mark N (2014) Policy Networks, Stakeholder Interactions and Climate Adaptation in the Region of South East Queensland, Australia. Regional Environmental Change 14(2): 527–539.Google Scholar
Mcpherson, Miller, Smith-Lovin, Lynn and Cook, James M (2001) Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks. Annual Review of Sociology 27(1): 415–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metz, Florence and Fischer, Manuel (2016) Policy Diffusion in the Context of International River Basin Management. Environmental Policy and Governance 26(4): 257–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moyson, Stéphane (2017) Cognition and Policy Change: The Consistency of Policy Learning in the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Policy and Society 4035(July): 1–25.Google Scholar
Oireachtas (2009) Meeting Ireland’s Electricity Needs Post-2020. Dublin: Oireachtas.Google Scholar
Oireachtas (2010) The Climate Change Response Bill. Dublin: Oireachtas.Google Scholar
Pahl-Wostl, Claudia (2009) A Conceptual Framework for Analysing Adaptive Capacity and Multi-Level Learning Processes in Resource Governance Regimes. Global Environmental Change 19(3): 354–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkins, John (2002) Forest Management and Advisory Groups in Alberta: An Empirical Critique of an Emergent Public Sphere. Canadian Journal of Sociology 27(2): 163–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reed, MS, Evely, AC, Cundill, G, Fazey, I, Glass, J, Laing, A, Newig, J, Parrish, B, Prell, C, Raymond, C and Stringer, LC (2010) What Is Social Learning? Ecology and Society 15(4).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rittel, Horst WJ and Webber, Melvin M (1973) Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning. Policy Sciences 4(2): 155–169.Google Scholar
Robins, Garry L (2013) A Tutorial on Methods for the Modeling and Analysis of Social Network Data. Journal of Mathematical Psychology 57, 261–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, Richard (1991) What Is Lesson-Drawing? Journal of Public Policy 11(01): 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabatier, PA and Weible, CM (2007) The Advocacy Coalition Framework. In Theories of the Policy Process, 2rd ed. Colorado: Westview Press, 189–220.Google Scholar
Sabatier, Paul A and Jenkins-Smith, Hank C (1993) Policy Change and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach (Theoretical Lenses on Public Policy). Boulder, CO: Routledge.Google Scholar
Sabatier, PA and Jenkins-Smith, HC (1999) The Advocacy Coalition Framework: An Assessment. In Sabatier A (ed.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 117–166.Google Scholar
Simmons, BA, Dobbin, F and Garrett, Geoffrey (2006) Introduction: The International Diffusion of Liberalism. International Organization 60(04): 781–810.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torney, Diarmuid (2017) If at First You Don’t Succeed: The Development of Climate Change Legislation in Ireland. Irish Political Studies 32(2): 247–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vasseur, L, Lafrance, L, Ansseau, C, Renaud, D, Morin, D and Audet, T (1997) Advisory Committee: A Powerful Tool for Helping Decision Makers in Environmental Issues. Environmental Management 21(3): 359–365.Google Scholar
Wagner, Paul and Payne, D (2017) Trends, Frames and Discourse Networks: Analysing the Coverage of Climate Change in Irish Newspapers. Irish Journal of Sociology 2, 1–24.Google Scholar
Wagner, P and Ylä-Anttila, T (2018) Who Got Their Way? Advocacy Coalitions and the Irish Climate Change Law. Environmental Politics 27(5): 872–891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Wagner and Ylä-Anttila Dataset

Dataset

https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/DAE3PG
Link
Supplementary material: File

Wagner and Ylä-Anttila supplementary material

Appendix

Download Wagner and Ylä-Anttila supplementary material(File)
File 196.1 KB