Assistant professor Hanno Hilbig publishes on the politics of green transition policies in the American Political Science Review

A new article in American Political Science Review by Vincent Heddesheimer, UC Davis political scientist Hanno Hilbig, and Erik Voeten explores how ambitious climate policies can reshape political landscapes by creating new lines of political polarization along occupational divisions. The study examines Germany’s green transition and shows that when far-right parties like Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) explicitly opposed green transition policies, they were more successful in attracting support in regions and among workers in polluting, “brown” industries—suggesting that political backlash can arise not just from economic loss but from perceptions that these policies stigmatize certain occupations and communities. By combining county-level election data with individual survey evidence, the authors argue that responses to long-term environmental policy change can generate political realignment when parties offer clear oppositional platforms, highlighting the importance of both economic and normative dimensions of climate policy in driving contemporary political polarization. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/green-transition-and-political-polarization-along-occupational-lines/5A563C0DBDC283E9111DBD980F1A52C9