Government-affiliated intermediaries in climate policy

Managing “productive tensions” between flexibility and control

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12652002
AutoresBruno Arcand (0000-0002-3869-3696, Carleton University, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume44
Fascículo4
Páginas535-548
Data de publicação2025-05-21
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPolicy and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1449-4035 • E-ISSN: 1839-3373
EditoraElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/polsoc/puaf014
OpenAlexW4413453154
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas29

While there is growing agreement that government-affiliated intermediaries can be an asset in advancing climate policy, perspectives diverge on the precise governance arrangements and conditions under which they excel. Some view government-affiliated intermediaries as instruments that states can exert control over to achieve their centrally determined objectives. Others contend that such bodies work best when they have the autonomy to experiment and shape policy formulation. This article seeks to clarify these debates by demonstrating that there is value in adopting governance arrangements that keep these two approaches (instrumental/experimental) in tension. The argument here is that a governance approach, which balances instrumental and experimental logics, can generate “productive tensions” to manage trade-offs between flexibility and control. Using a process-tracing analysis, the article explores this argument through a case study of a government-affiliated intermediary in ­Quebec—Propulsion Québec—deliberately created by the state to intermediate between the public and private sectors in the electric transportation sector. Findings reveal productive tensions between the state and a government-affiliated intermediary, as well as between different government-affiliated intermediaries, but show that these tensions can be difficult to sustain over time. Overall, attending to these tensions allows for a deeper understanding of the governance arrangements and conditions under which government-affiliated intermediaries can advance climate policy

Business · Control (management · Economic growth · Economic policy · Economics · Flexibility (engineering · Government (linguistics · Intermediary · Management · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Climate Change Policy and Economics · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance · Finance · Law · Public Administration