Public Opinion, Levels of Government and Climate Change in Bangladesh

• In Event: The Politics of Adaptation Governance: Emerging Sub-National Challenges

Abstract

Analysts of climate change policy emphasize the importance of “polycentric” governance, or the integration of local, national, and international public agencies to adapt to climate change. Yet, it seems that citizens on the ground do not differentiate between levels of government and instead mostly hold “government in general” responsible for the climate-related problems they face. This article uses responses to a national survey in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, to show the relatively undifferentiated nature of responsibility attribution by respondents to different levels of government. While responsibility attribution is largely undifferentiated in terms of level of government, citizens do identify the importance of local government efficacy and trust in diminishing their attribution of blame against the “black box” of government. This creates challenges for policymakers and analysts, who do seek more involvement by the climate vulnerable at different levels of government.

Authors

• Todd A. Eisenstadt, American University

• Matthew Wright, University of British Columbia