Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
3.6 THE
POLITICAL SET
MODEL AND THE CASE STUDIES
Each of the case studies presented in this topic begins with a general over-
view to the energy situation in the country under investigation and a chron-
ological overview of the history of wind power development in that country.
Once the national context has been explicated, the conditions which sup-
port or hinder wind power development will be analyzed by applying the
Political SET
model.
For each chapter, the
Political SET
analysis is conducted in the same
four-step sequence. It begins by identifying key social, economic, and
technological trends in the case study nation, under the thematic title
“Understanding the General Forces for Change.” his initial section is
intended to provide the reader with a general perspective of the national
landscape that afects wind power development. It describes the general
socioeconomic conditions into which wind power is being introduced.
he second step of the
Political SET
analysis examines how the inluential
social, economic, and technological (SET) elements have inluenced politi-
cal ideology and policy. his section bears the thematic title “Inluences on
Government Policy.” In essence, it examines the governance conduits—the
channels through which stakeholder inluence is conveyed to policymakers.
his second stage of the analysis is an extension of the national landscape
section in that it speciically describes how inluential SET variables have
inluenced government policy behavior.
he third step of the
Political SET
analysis is undertaken under the theme
“Political Inluences on Policy,” and examines the regime characteristics
that inluence policymaking in the nation under investigation. As alluded
to earlier, a review of policy research has highlighted four regime charac-
teristics that have been chosen for inclusion in this framework. he irst
characteristic is the national political structure, because how a nation is
structured politically inluences the autonomy that a governing party has
over policymaking, which in turn inluences choice of policy instruments.
17
he second characteristic is the governing party's political ideology, because
ideology also inluences the nature of policymaking and the choice of policy
instruments that are implemented.
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he third characteristic is national is-
cal health. Fiscal health frames the types of responses a ruling party has at
its discretion for solving policy challenges. he fourth characteristic is the
policy regime itself. Policymaking in any given country tends to exhibit a
high degree of path dependency; past approaches to resolving policy chal-
lenges in certain areas tend to be replicated in other areas, if successful.
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Taken together, the second and third steps of the
Political SET
analysis
relect a widely accepted view that politics causes policy.
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Key stakeholders,
