Research Spotlight: Policy Attributes Shape Climate Policy Support 

Eric Coleman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida State University, co-authored an article in Policy Studies Journal titled “Policy Attributes Shape Climate Policy Support” with Niklas Harring, Ph.D., and Sverker C. Jagers, Ph.D. Below is a summary of the article written by doctoral student Martin Gandur (Ph.D. Political Science ’25).    

In “Policy Attributes Shape Climate Policy Support,” Eric Coleman, Ph.D., and co-authors examine how the attributes of specific public policy proposals addressing climate change have an impact on individuals’ support for those policy proposals. 

Research Spotlight: Eric Coleman, Ph.D. Policy Attributes Shape
Climate Policy Support

Dr. Coleman’s article suggests that the attributes of policy proposals can have different dimensions or characteristics that impact public support for such proposals: (1) the target of the policy, (2) the nature of the policy instruments, (3) which policy actors will fund and administer the policy, and (4) whether other governments are also expected to enact similar policies. The author argues that differences in these characteristics can explain popular support for policy proposals. The findings indicate that people’s support for carbon mitigation policies depends on the content of the specific policy. First, people prefer less coercive policies (providing information) to more coercive policies (imposing regulations). Second, people have only weak preferences about localization of administration but strongly prefer policies to be funded by higher levels of government (such as the EU) rather than local government. Moreover, people are far more favorable to policies when other administrative units must also adopt similar policies. Finally, favorability toward policy varies by whether other countries would adopt similar policies, but not in entirely consistent ways. 

Dr. Coleman’s research shows that by changing the distribution of costs and benefits from climate policy across different levels, people assess the costs and benefits of a particular policy to their situation. This research proposes a way to motivate support of policy by creating localized benefits and shared costs. For example, the findings suggest that encouraging higher-level governments to finance climate policies can improve public support for such policies. Dr. Coleman’s research can help policymakers to understand the attributes of policies most important to their constituents. 

Public policy is a complex mix of attributes, and people’s opinions over those policies can vary greatly. It is important to understand whether and how specific policy attributes affect people’s opinions toward policy. However, Dr. Coleman argues that it is crucial to acknowledge that climate policies consist of various provisions, some of which individuals can support while others may oppose, even within broad policy types. For instance, a “carbon tax” can have different meanings to different people, depending on features like who is targeted by a carbon tax, how broad the policy would apply, what government units would control enforcement, and what other countries would adopt a carbon tax. Dr. Coleman’s research examines the impact of many different policy attributes on overall policy support. 

Dr. Coleman conducts a conjoint survey experiment in Sweden that explores hypothetical climate policies with various attributes. These attributes are randomly assigned to participants as part of the experiment. By using this experimental design, Dr. Coleman can assess how these different attributes influence public policy support. 

Dr. Coleman encourages researchers to study how policy attributes shape climate policy support in different contexts, such as other EU countries, the United States, or the global south. Moreover, future research can examine how policy attributes affect policy support for individuals with different ideological or cultural dispositions. 

Coleman, Eric A., Harring, Niklas, and Jagers, Sverker C.. 2023. Policy attributes shape climate policy support. Policy Studies Journal, 51, 419–437. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12493