The diverse impacts of democracy on greenhouse gas emissions

A model to assess the relationship between attributes of democracy and greenhouse gas emissions is developed. Applying this framework to a comprehensive panel dataset covering more than 150 countries over the recent three decades, the following key findings emerge: (i) Direct Popular Voting is highly effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions across all sources. (ii) Civil Society Participation also proves effective, though its impact is reduced for emissions from well-identified sources. (iii) Greater emphasis on individual and political liberties reduces the effectiveness of Liberal Democracy in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions compared to the previous two indicators. (iv) The impacts of Judicial Constraint on the Executive and Freedom of Expression, while not negligible, are weaker compared to those of the first three indicators. These findings are interpreted and explained, and their implications for the design and implementation of climate policies are examined.