Balancing stability and flexibility in adaptive governance: an analysis of tools available in U.S. environmental law

Ecology and Society : a Journal of Integrative Science for Resilience and Sustainability
Robin Kundis CraigEdella Schlager

Abstract

Adaptive governance must work "on the ground," that is, it must operate through structures and procedures that the people it governs perceive to be legitimate and fair, as well as incorporating processes and substantive goals that are effective in allowing social-ecological systems (SESs) to adapt to climate change and other impacts. To address the continuing and accelerating alterations that climate change is bringing to SESs, adaptive governance generally will require more flexibility than prior governance institutions have often allowed. However, to function as good governance, adaptive governance must pay real attention to the problem of how to balance this increased need for flexibility with continuing governance stability so that it can foster adaptation to change without being perceived or experienced as perpetually destabilizing, disruptive, and unfair. Flexibility and stability serve different purposes in governance, and a variety of tools exist to strike different balances between them while still preserving the governance institution's legitimacy among the people governed. After reviewing those purposes and the implications of climate change for environmental governance, we examine psychological insights into the str...Continue Reading

Citations

Nov 6, 2018·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Tongzhu Zhang, Hong Yao
Sep 19, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Ahjond GarmestaniCraig R Allen
Nov 30, 2018·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Wanhong LiCe Li
Sep 4, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Barbara CosensJukka Similä

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