Structure, agency and local climate governance: how do individual actors exploit local contexts to shape policymaking in smaller cities and towns?
基于对11个德国小镇的实地调研，研究揭示了市政管理者如何利用地方社会经济、人口和政治条件，通过不同方式构建气候政策话语以争取支持，强调个体在政策制定中的能动作用。
Previous studies stress that structural conditions influence local climate action, but often neglect the role of agency in policymaking. Drawing on fieldwork in 11 German towns, we show how municipal managers frame climate-related policies in different ways to gain local support for action. Although these framings are influenced by each town’s socio-economic, demographic and political conditions, as well as its vulnerability to climate threats, they nonetheless highlight the importance of individuals in policymaking. We then present a two-dimensional framework to inform future research into structure and agency in local governance, whilst cautioning that undertaking such studies can be difficult.