Patrick M. Kuhn

Is There an Environmental Version of the Kantian Peace? Insights from Water Pollution in Europe

We examine whether there is an environmental version of the Kantian peace; that is, whether democracies that trade and are bound by international treaties are less likely to harm each other environmentally. Specifically, we study five factors that are likely to help in reducing beggar-thy-neighbour behaviour in terms of transboundary pollution: democracy, supranational institutions, trade relations, stringency of domestic environmental policy and international environmental commitment. The empirical focus is on upstream—downstream water pollution in Europe in 1970—2003. The observed effects of the five variables differ considerably across forms of pollution and definitions of beggar-thy-neighbour behaviour. Some of our explanatory variables contribute to reducing beggar-thy-neighbour behaviour. Hence there is some empirical support for the environmental Kantian argument. Nonetheless, state behaviour in this area remains characterized by free-riding incentives; the forces of democracy, trade and national and international regulation and institutions do not easily produce decent international behaviour.

Natural Disasters and Political Engagement: Evidence from the 2010–11 Pakistani Floods

How natural disasters affect politics in developing countries is an important question, given the fragility of fledgling democratic institutions in some of these countries as well as likely increased exposure to natural disasters over time due to climate change. Research in sociology and psychology suggests traumatic events can inspire pro-social behavior and therefore might increase political engagement. Research in political science argues that economic resources are critical for political engagement and thus the economic dislocation from disasters may dampen participation. We argue that when the government and civil society response effectively blunts a disasters economic impacts, then political engagement may increase as citizens learn about government capacity. Using diverse data from the massive 2010–11 Pakistan floods, we find that Pakistanis in highly flood-affected areas turned out to vote at substantially higher rates three years later than those less exposed. We also provide speculative evidence on the mechanism. The increase in turnout was higher in areas with lower ex ante flood risk, which is consistent with a learning process. These results suggest that natural disasters may not necessarily undermine civil society in emerging developing democracies.

Einführung in die Politikwissenschaft

Dieses Grundlagenwerk vermittelt die wichtigsten Konzepte, Methoden und Forschungsinhalte der Politikwissenschaft. Dank guter Lesbarkeit und vielen Beispielen ist es auch fur Leserinnen und Leser geeignet, die keine oder nur geringe Vorkenntnisse besitzen. • Teil I ist dem Prozess der empirisch-analytischen Forschung gewidmet. Er vermittelt, wie Theorien zu politischen Phanomenen entwickelt und empirisch getestet werden. • Teil II befasst sich mit den wichtigsten Akteuren, Mechanismen und Institutionen politischer Systeme – mit besonderem Augenmerk auf die politischen Systeme Deutschlands, Osterreichs, der Schweiz und der Europaischen Union. • Teil III beschaftigt sich mit der internationalen Politik sowie den Ursachen und Auswirkungen der Globalisierung.

Natural Disasters and Political Participation: Evidence from the 2002 and 2013 Floods in Germany

How do natural disasters affect electoral participation? The existing social science literature offers contradictory predictions. A considerable body of research in sociology and psychology suggests that traumatic events can inspire pro-social behaviour, which might increase turnout. Yet, political science has long held that even minor changes to participation costs of low benefit activities can lead to considerable drops in civic engagement. Consequently, natural disasters should reduce electoral participation. We show how these distinct views can be jointly analysed within the Riker–Ordeshook model of voting. This paper then reports results on the impact of the 2002 and 2013 floods in Germany on turnout in federal and state elections in Saxony and Bavaria, conducted few weeks after the floods. Analysing community level turnout data, and drawing on a difference-in-differences framework, we find that flood exposure has a consistent negative effect on turnout. This indicates that the increase in the costs of voting outweighed any increase in political engagement in our case and stands in contrast to findings from developing contexts, where flood management was convincingly linked to electoral participation.