Democracy, accountability, and forest loss: a cross-national analysis of low- and middle-income nations

ABSTRACT

The existing cross-national research on democracy and forest loss has produced contradictory results. On the one hand, some studies find that democracy is related to less forest loss because of electoral accountability and guaranteeing political rights and civil liberties. On the other hand, studies find that democracy is related to increased forest loss in low- and middle-income nations because leaders promote policies that prioritize economic growth over protecting the natural environment. We use this research as a starting point for our study and build upon it in two ways. First, we examine how vertical, horizontal, and diagonal accountability – three different aspects of democracy – impacts forest loss in low- and middle-income nations. Second, we address the issue of endogeneity in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal accountability. To do so, we analyze data for 80 low- and middle-income nations using a two-stage instrumental variable regression model. We find that higher levels of horizontal and diagonal accountability are related to less forest loss. We do not find that vertical accountability is related to forest loss in low- and middle-income nations. From the findings, we arrive at our theoretical implication, which support arguments concerning how actors at different scales work individually and together to promote conservation.

KEYWORDS:

• Forest loss
• cross-national
• democracy
• accountability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. It is important to note that our discussion of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal accountability is similar to Ostrom’s (2010) theory of polycentric governance, which stresses multiple centers of decision-making that are semi-autonomous but overlap across because they are nested at multiple jurisdictional levels (e.g. local, state, and national).

2. The failure of the international non-governmental organization variable is surprising to us. However, it corresponds with previous cross-national research. Shandra (2007) initially finds that international non-governmental organizations have no impact on forest loss. However, the author finds support for an interaction effect with democratic nations providing a ‘political opportunity structure’ that enhances the ability of international non-governmental organizations to decrease forest loss. We consider if this may be the case here by including an interaction term between international non-governmental organizations and diagonal accountability. However, the coefficient for the interaction term does not reach a level of statistical significance.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alphonse Opoku

Alphonse Opoku is a Ph.D student in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, USA. His research interests include democracy, citizenship, and urban environments from a global perspective.

Marion Harper

Marion Harper is a Ph.D student in the Department of Sociology, Stony Brook University, New York, USA. Her research focuses on how global governance and policies impact environmental outcomes cross-nationally.

Jamie M. Sommer

Jamie M. Sommer is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, USA. Her research interests are in the areas of governance and regulation in a global perspective, especially concerning the environment.

John M. Shandra

John M. Shandra is Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Sociology, Stony Brook University, New York, USA. His research interests are in the areas of environmental sociology, globalization, and quantitative methodology, especially with regard to multinational corporations, international financial institutions, and repressive nations.