The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has recently published a working paper titled 'The Comparative Turn in Climate Change Adaptation and Food Security Governance Research.' Its author, Mark Purdon, argues that the concepts and methods of comparative politics can shine light on political factors important for catalyzing positive change on the governance of climate change adaptation and food security in the developing world.
December 2014: The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has recently published a working paper, titled ‘The Comparative Turn in Climate Change Adaptation and Food Security Governance Research.’ Its author, Mark Purdon, argues that the concepts and methods of comparative politics can shine light on political factors important for catalyzing positive change on the governance of climate change adaptation and food security in the developing world.
Following an introduction to comparative politics, including a discussion of epistemological and methodological issues, the paper reviews three groups of political and economic factors identified by the comparative politics literature: institutions, ideas and interests. It highlights the important relationship between international and domestic politics, and draws attention to gaps in the existing literature on climate change adaptation and food security.
The author concludes by making five recommendations for CCAFS future research, related to the need to: identify new dimensions for institutional research; conduct governance research beyond institutions; embrace more rigorous comparative methods; address the ‘dependent variable’ problem in climate change adaptation research; and come to grips with ‘good enough’ climate governance. [Publication: The Comparative Turn in Climate Change Adaptation and Food Security Governance Research]