Carbon Emission Performance and Regime Type – The Role of Inequality

Existing results about the impact of regime type on states’ environmental performance are inconclusive. We argue that this can stem from failure to allow for a factor that, thus far, has been largely overlooked – economic inequality. More equal democratic societies, we contend, are likely to make greater progress in dealing with environmental problems. However, inequality undermines those processes and characteristics of democratic polities that are supposed to further environmental protection. In contrast, inequality is unlikely to be of much importance in authoritarian states. We examine this argument using data on carbon emission performance for the post-1970 period. Our results provide strong and robust evidence that inequality moderates the influence of democracy on this aspect of environmental outcomes. Our research adds to the debate about regime type and environmental politics, addressing a major gap in the literature.