Thesis abstract:

«p»«p style="text-align:justify"»Across democracies, a growing disconnect is emerging between public recognition of the ongoing climate crisis and the willingness of governments to address them. This problem is especially acute in energy exporting democracies such as Canada, the United States, Australia, Germany, and Norway, where a critical portion of its economy is reliant on fossil fuel extraction and export. Nonetheless, while some high-energy exporting democracies have been at the forefront of climate initiatives such as Norway, others such as the United States and Australia have lagged due to the pervasive influence of the fossil fuel industry in policymaking. This study addresses this predicament by asking - why are climate policies in some energy exporting democracies more vulnerable to policy capture by lobbyists? Adopting a comparative institutional analysis, this study investigates how institutions structure forms of economic organisation and its implications on climate policy in two distinct cases – Australia and Norway. A mixed methods approach comprising of qualitative methods and social network analysis will be employed. Through the concept of "petro-democracies", this study will explore how the fossil fuel industry has effectively penetrated institutions in both Australia and Norway, despite variations in its institutional autonomy.«/p»«/p»