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"As the world faces the prospect of climate change, nuclear disasters, and water scarcity, it is clear that environmental degradation is an increasingly serious challenge with economic and social consequences. In this book, Detlef Jahn analyzes political processes in a macro-comparative study in order to estimate the role of politics in the field of environmental performance in 21 OECD countries. His model demonstrates various styles of politics used to combat environmental degradation. He finds that economic and environmental performance are still closely linked, and that moving towards a service society does not by itself solve the environmental challenge. The close relationship of these areas was made strikingly clear in the economic crisis of the new millennium. He argues that economic globalization fosters environmental deterioration, and undermines efforts in domestic politics and international coordination to improve the environmental record"--

AbstractThe extent to which the left–right dimension still structures party systems in highly developed, industrialized democracies is a contested field in comparative politics. Most studies in this area take the position that a stable and universal left–right dimension is either still the most important game in town or has become obsolete and replaced by other policy dimensions. Although country-specific studies focusing on voters' left–right self-placement discover different meanings of left and right that vary between countries and change over time, few macro-comparative studies focusing on parties or governments take this aspect into account. Using a left–right concept for party politics from the PIP project on Parties, Institutions and Preferences that distinguishes an ideological core derived from political theory, as well as country- and time-specific issues uncovered through empirical analysis, the article demonstrates fundamental differences in the relevance and meaning of left and right by analyzing 34 party systems from 1945 to 2020. The article shows that the thesis of the decline of the left and right is premature. An important aspect for the continued high relevance of the left–right dimension is the fact that left and right changes their meaning by including controversial issues such as European integration, migration and environmental degradation.

This article gives an initial overview of the explanatory power of established approaches in comparative political science of various lockdown strategies in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic in 35 democracies. In a macro-comparative statistical analysis of the first wave of the pandemic, I test partisan and veto player theories. I distinguish two phases of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which show distinct patterns of political impacts. In the first phase of implementing lockdown strategies, central governments were relatively uncontested and partisan theory has strong explanatory power. In the second phase of lifting lockdowns, party differences lose relevance, but veto players have a strong influence during this time. The analysis shows that political science theories are useful for analysing political processes not only under normal conditions but also in extreme social crises. Moreover, it provides deeper insights into the democratic decision-making process of advanced democracies in exceptional situations.

AbstractPartisan theory is not easy to apply to environmental issues. One reason for this is that party families are usually structured according to the left-right dimension. However, such a perspective ignores the fact that the concept of party families stems from a multi-dimensional historical analysis. In order to determine the relevance of the influence of party families on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs), we use a new data set that differentiates between ten party families. An organization theoretical analysis shows that the participation of green parties in government reduces GHGEs. Left parties have much less impact. In contrast, non-Christian center parties have a negative effect on GHGEs. Methodologically, we show that the party effect does not appear in the short term, but only takes effect after more than two years

This article analyses redistribution effects during retrenchment and crisis in 31 welfare states using a new data set from a refined analysis of unemployment replacement rates of low-, middle- and high-income levels (Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset 2 (CWED2)). Starting by identifying four distribution regimes before the economic crisis, the analysis shows that these regimes determine the redistribution of unemployment benefits during the period of retrenchment. As expected, equality-oriented capitalism redistributes in favour of the low-income levels and status-oriented and competitiveness-oriented capitalism have no redistribution effects. More interesting is the redistribution effect of a fourth regime type which favours high-income groups and which is present in both Western (Mediterranean) and Central and Eastern European countries. Another intriguing finding is that – with some notable exceptions – the period of retrenchment has been characterized by sparing the low-income groups from severe cuts. This has changed in the current economic crisis where this group has experienced severe cuts in their benefits. The reaction to the crisis is also more strongly determined by immediate needs and is not as well explained by the distribution regimes.

Recently, I developed a left–right index in Party Politics which provoked some reaction. In particular, my claim that I use a deductive approach was questioned, it being stressed that other indices are also constructed deductively and that, in turn, my index is not adequately deductive at all. In this response to Simon Franzmann's (2013) comment I stress the advantages and pitfalls of both inductive and deductive approaches. Additionally, I elaborate why I perceive most existing left–right indices as primarily inductive in nature and stress the importance of theory in a deductive approach. I question that a high correlation with other left–right indices is a quality criterion of construct validity. I then correct some misinterpretations fostered by Franzmann and summarize the logic of my index. Finally, I give two brief examples of the merit and analytical potential of a deductive left–right score.