Ideas, Interests, And Institutions: Dynamics Of U.S. Climate Change Politics(1992-March 2009)

Climate change is becoming an increasingly pressing problem for the whole world today. The policy of the U.S. has a wide-ranging influence on the rest of the world. Since President Bush Sr. signed United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, the U.S. has witnessed a policy change from foot-dragging of the Clinton administration to indifference of the Bush administration, and currently rays of enthusiasm of the Obama administration. This thesis is aimed at answering two questions. First, why has American climate change policy evolved in this way? Second, what will happen in the Obama administration?These two questions will be answered by exploring the dynamics of U.S. climate change politics. With the analysis framework of"ideas, interests, and institutions"by Professor Hugh Heclo, the author argues that it is the interplay between ideas, interests, and institutions that has contributed to the dynamics of U.S. climate change politics, and predicts that a new institution, that is a cap-and-trade system, will be launched in Obama's term and the U.S. will finally change its course on climate change and become active in dealing with this issue.