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Populist Opposition to Climate Policy: The Role of Policy Type and Target

Comparative Politics
Environmental Policy
Populism
Climate Change
Public Opinion
Survey Research
Robert A. Huber
Universität Salzburg
Robert A. Huber
Universität Salzburg
Annika Schuster
Universität Salzburg

Abstract

Do populist citizens oppose some climate change policies more than others and if so, why? While existing research has found populist attitudes as a driver of climate scepticism as well as for diffuse opposition towards climate policies, the underlying factors shaping populist’s aversion towards concrete climate change policies remain less clear. Differentiating climate change policies based on policy-type and their policy-target, we argue that populist citizens substantially reject climate policies more if they are “push” measures, leverage market-based policy instruments or target “the people”. We test these arguments by utilizing Austrian panel data from 2020 to 2021 and linear regression models with interaction effects. The findings suggest that indeed policy target and type matter. However, the mechanism through which the policy operates (market-based vs regulation) does not seem to matter for the association of populism and climate policy support. Utilizing two-way fixed-effects models and matching techniques help provide robustness to our results and mitigate potential selection biases. We contribute to the existing literature by accounting for a climate policy’s specific design and thus providing more contrasting insights in the opposition of climate policy by populist citizens.