Conceptualizing power in multi-level climate governance

This article demonstrates how power can be conceptualized in multi-level climate governance and develops a power-based analytical framework for climate policy making. Effective climate governance requires action at multiple levels. Whereas multi-level governance enables us to cover the complex relations between actors across these levels, multi-level governance scholars have done little to explicitly conceptualize power. This study translates insights from traditional pluralist power theorists to multi-level governance research in order to explore how power can be investigated in complex climate governance arrangements. A three dimensional power-based approach is developed and applied to the field of climate policy making with the help of a mapping exercise. In conclusion, investigating the distribution of hard and soft power resources, capacities and power relations within and across different jurisdictional levels allows us to systematically explore the role of power in climate governance.