The Impact of Political Narratives on Effective Policy Making: The case of German climate policies under the Ampelkoalition

Abstract

In the context of ever-increasing gaps between climate targets and climate action, this thesis studies the role of narratives in political discourse on climate change and climate policy making. It uses the German government during the legislative period from 2021 - 2024, the so-called Ampelkoalition [traffic light coalition], and examines how politicians from the governing parties used narratives to position themselves and their political opponent vis-à-vis climate change and climate policy.

Incorporating textual evidence from parliamentary debates on climate-related topics and applying Political Discourse Analysis, the thesis unveils common narratives and demonstrates how these are employed by policymakers to legitimise and justify their own political agenda. At the same time, the narrative themes that emerge show that they further serve to undermine the legitimacy of political opponents.

Applying the concept of Narratology (Bal, 1999), this work argues that actors are discursively classified into positive or negative categories that allow politicians to claim credit and avoid blame. Thereby, parliamentary debates serve as a space for using narratives as political tool and communicative strategy, in order to advance one's political agenda. The main narratives that emerged are focused on the government as actively driving progress - titled We're doing our best and Reassurances and Responsiveness - and the opposition and hindering advancement of policies - labelled Devious Discursive Strategies and Inherited Problems.

The use of narratives in such strategic ways leads to concerns regarding their manipulative potential and the impact of this on democratic processes. Together with the negative impact on humans and the environment that climate change entails, the thesis discusses how neglecting appropriate means to tackle climate change endangers the peacekeeping abilities of a democracy.