Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T14:52:44.418Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Pathologies of National Politics in the United States and China

from Part II - Pathologies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2021

Paul G. Harris
Affiliation:
The Education University of Hong Kong
Get access

Summary

National politics will determine which interests are given priority in climate governance. More often than not, climate action never makes it to the top of the list of governments’ priorities, and at the very least that action is watered down. For most countries, climate governance is very largely a function of domestic political considerations. This chapter describes how the pathologies of national politics have manifested themselves in the United States and China. These two countries are examined in some detail here because they are the largest national sources of greenhouse gas pollution, together accounting for about 40 percent of the global total. These countries’ experiences tell us much of what we need to know about the pathologies of national politics and how those pathologies interact with the pathologies of international relations. They demonstrate the degree to which the pathologies of national politics have infected climate governance around the world. In both countries, there have been some efforts to govern climate change, but vastly less than what the science demands, and indeed far short of what other countries have demanded.

Type
Chapter
Information
Pathologies of Climate Governance
International Relations, National Politics and Human Nature
, pp. 60 - 80
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×