ESM 297-1S
Course Name
Advanced Special Topics in Environmental Policy: Policy and Power: How Campaigns Work
Climate advocacy is increasing in importance as communities and organizations around the world advance solutions to limit global warming. While there are instances of advocacy successfully leading to enacted climate policy, the current global patchwork of commitments and policies illustrates the limited success of these efforts. Understanding the forces that have opposed climate policy requires an evidence-grounded analysis of how political power is generated, distributed and wielded in the energy system.
This is a skills-based course that examines strategies of advocacy from the perspective of political science and related disciplines. To make durable policy change, we need to know: under what conditions will advocates gain power, and opponents lose power? What strategies and interventions can organizations use to create these conditions? Answering these questions requires us to think precisely about how political power works, who wields it, and how it can be harnessed by organizations seeking change.
Course Syllabus: Spring 2025