The Major Challenges Facing Traditional Political Parties in Addressing Environmental Problems - Term Paper Example

The Major Challenges Facing Traditional Political Parties in Addressing Environmental Problems Introduction Despite existing evidence on environmental issues consensus in the United Kingdom, scholars have long questioned the political significance of environmentalism by noting the major challenges facing traditional political parties in addressing environmental issues. While environment has been defended and considered as pivotal issue by some parties, the unwillingness of UK voters to take part in an election on basis of environmental records or positions seems clear (Carter, 2009: 233). Yet, it’s an ecological, cultural and political fact which is redesigning the way we feel regarding ourselves, our societies and humanity's place on the globe. Why we differ as regards to environmental issues is a significant input to the constant contest over climate alteration and its possible impact on our lives; climate is strongly affecting the lives of many people, though the impact differ with the regions, making individuals from regions with no severe effect on climate retreat to take responsibilities. Parties’ positions In the recent past, much debate has been raised in the media surrounding the causes and impact of climate change. Different groups and parties have argued differently on the causes of climate change, for instance, some insists that the recent global temperatures are mostly due to human activities. But others has refuted the claim that climate is human-induced. The arguments by various stakeholders on climatic change have made different parties and government to adopt different positions and strategies in response to the environmental issues. The advocacy of According to Carter (2009: 235), Labour Party toward environmental policy has been to make sure that UK become a leader on climate change, possibly a strategic and an increasingly key position economically; by making environmental issue top of the party agenda. While for Conservative Party, economic recession and change of priorities have been its key aspects. Since formation of government in 2007, the party relegated the environment from the previous key position it held in the past. In spite of this, the exceptional level of politicization of the environment exemplified best through the Climate Change Act 2008, which posed a major impact on government policy and future government may find it hard to overlook the environment as it happened in history, beside the public request to prioritize other issues over environmental policy (Giddens, 2009). Major Challenges in addressing environmental problems Party competition Political parties compete on basis of preferences of their members and general public in rating one policy over the other as best in satisfying their demands. Certain policy choices may be preferred that are not in line with environmental conservancy. A notion where political party may be forced to adopt the preferences of voters, for them to be elected rather than attracting support for their own ideal environmental policies (Giddens, 2009). This is based on the premise that preferences of party agendas are assumed as electorates cannot be convinced of the benefits of a policy if they do not inherently agree with it. Hence, policies are adapted to match those already preferred by the general public. Material needs Most parties are supported by trade unions and businesses, forming a clear indication that policies adopted should be friendly to their clients. This is applicable to environmental policy in particular because electorates primarily associate with immediate material needs. Both Labour Party and Conservative Party are primarily sponsored by supporters in the form of trade unions and businesses respectively. If any policy is believed to negatively impact on the economy or consumer demand like raising of environmental taxes in order to meet domestic and international environmental commitments, then a preference shaping strategy will be applied and drop it to safeguard consumers or economy. Legislative changes Political parties will campaign and make policy on issues of public concern and hope to reap at the polls. Issues not taken serious like environmental concerns will not be taken seriously by major political parties besides their existence in manifestos. The environment, as a party political issue, contented this principle and has usually been advocated by the Liberal Democrats. The party has talked about environmental concern in its manifestos since 1979 and reliably topped survey of party with “best environmental agenda”. However, despite this perceived lead in environmental issues, Liberal Democrats ranks poorly in wider policy agenda, something that has made it secure only third position in elections that have been held in UK, trailing Labour and Conservative. Party systems are in state of flux The system of most major parties is perceived to be in a state of flux and thus hard to tell how long this could take to change. It’s believed that a key cause is the dynamic political conflicts that results from advanced industrial societies (Giddens, 2009). Most parties and party systems are still oriented primarily toward the traditional political alignments making hard to adopt the latest environmental policies in their system because of their presumed old political cleavage. Similarly, the new political dimension has instigated conflict over a number of issues such as environmental quality, minority rights, involvement, and social equality. This dimension has created impediments that have threatened the realization of environmental conservancy. Partisan realignment In some political party systems, the environmental concern forms a new model of partisan alliance. In UK, for instance, the Liberal Democrats are well-known among the recognized parties as mainly concerned with environmental matter, while in Germany, it’s the Green Party which is perceived to be a stronger campaigner for environmental issues. Such partisan coalition have commonly been evident in party system, for example in France, French Greens are strong backers of the environment, taking an extreme New Left position. However the traditional Leftist parties have sometimes been neutral or critical of environment protection. The French Communists, who are perceived to be extremely Leftist on old political matters, are positioned between the Conservative UDF and RPR on environmental aspect; the Communists and the National Front hold similar position on environmental issues. Issue salience The sociopolitical space concerning the position pursued by most parties on environmental dimension, acquaint voters to partisan politics. In every country there is a apparent representation of political positions on a number of policy together with traditional socioeconomic matters that formed a primary framework of party competition in these democracies. Moreover, the political hullabaloos of advanced industrial societies have brought new issues ahead, a move that has prompted establishment of new parties or alliances to drum up support for their positions on issues. The mix of these political forces fuels up challenges that affect realization of other parties’ agenda on environment (Giddens, 2009). For example, votes on environmental issues in Congress tend to be divided a long a strong partisan split, despite a growing environmental consensus in the public cutting across party positions. Perhaps, the environmental issues fail to influence electorates’ preferences may be because the concerns lack a required degree of intensity or individual significance to voters. Even though, environmental issues might indeed create a firm political punch if and when Americans become persuaded that the nation’s environment is in crisis. Current Debate on Climate Change Current debates have tried to highlight the major causes of climate change around the globe and proposed strategies to be adopted in curbing the menace. The main cause has been human activity and natural (Solomon, 2005). Human activities have involved things such as increase in greenhouse gases and aerosol discharge, ozone exhaustion and change in land use whereas entails things like volcanic activity and variations in solar radiation. Having a critical look at the devastating effect of climatic change on environment, all countries around the globe are called upon to make a tremendous move in managing the situation before it comes severe and beyond repair. UK together with other developed countries should take a forehand position in controlling the initiators of climate change. The latest strategies as stated in Climate Change Plan for UK are viewed as a forward way of curbing the situation. The Climate Change Plan for Britain has set out specific targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the investment by government in more energy-efficient technologies and production methods is seen to help the country switch to a less carbon-intensive forms of energy, which is environmental friendly. Conclusion The major causes of climate change and the effect it associate with can only be brought to halt if all parties involved are responsible for their actions. This is the only way of winning fight against environmental pollution which is a major cause of climate change. From our discussion, it is clear that the key cause of climatic change has been human activities. For example, activities like mining, industrialization, farming, transportation, construction, habitations and afforestation are the major human daily activities. With appropriate control, there can be better management of natural and man-made resources and adequate support of the same which will help in reducing the dangers posed by the same activities to climate change. Bibliography Bosso, C. J. (1994). after the movement: Environmental activism in the 1990s. Washington, DC: CQ Press. Bragdon, P., and Donovan, B. (1990). Voters’ concerns are turning the political agenda green. Congressional Q. Weekly Rep. vol.20, pp.186 –187. Campbell, A., P. E. Converse, W. E. Miller, and D. E. Stokes. 1960. The American voter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Carter, N. (2006). Party Politicization of the Environment in Britain. Party Politics. 12(6), pp.757-767. Carter, N. (2009). Vote Blue, Go Green? Cameron’s Conservatives and the Environment. The Political Quarterly. Vol.80, No.2, pp.233-242. Darkin, B. (2006). Pledges, politics and performance: an assessment of UK climate policy. Climate Policy. Vol.6, pp.257-274. Giddens, A. (2009). The Politics of Climate Change. Cambridge: Polity. Solomon S. 2005, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,. Read More