What explains why some Amazon municipalities lose more forest than others? This study shows that local electoral competition causally increases deforestation — especially where private commercial actors stand to profit from forest clearing — and it identifies a specific political strategy behind that outcome.
Does what other states do influence how much land a country protects? This paper argues that states sit in international "dependence networks"—partners with which they regularly exchange valued goods—and uses those networks to study whether increases in protected land among trade partners and international-organization partners are associated with increases in protected land at the focal state. The contribution is to show international economic and organizational ties as potential pathways of environmental policy influence, comparing their substantive effects to familiar domestic predictors.
Policy processes often depend on how policymakers perceive public support. This study asks whether the character of the policy process itself—cooperation versus confrontation among governing branches—shapes public backing for a policy. The test case is an unexpected legal and political dispute in New Delhi over exemptions for women in the odd–even vehicle rule, a transport-based measure intended to reduce air pollution.