ABSTRACT
This chapter finds that democratic quality tends to have a positive influence on the climate performance of established democracies. Detailed mechanisms have verified statistical trends and a concept of democratic efficacy which assumes that the ability to produce desired and intended climate performance increases concomitantly with democratic quality, thus robustly clarifying the finding. The research required a conceptual framework based on an explanatory mixed methods design to provide a comprehensive answer in terms of identifying quantitative trends, verifying them through detailed mechanisms and developing a generalizable explanatory approach. Analysis I estimated panel regressions based on the Democracy Barometer and the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) in order to detect the trends. Analysis II investigated Canada's Kyoto Protocol process to explore mechanisms which would verify the trends of the previous analysis and advance the initially outlined concept of democratic efficacy. Canada's Kyoto Protocol process from 1995-2012 was chosen as a case study and investigated by process tracing.
