The Global Spread of Environmental Ministries: Domestic-International Interactions

Environmental ministries have become increasingly common, but the determinants of their global spread remain only partially understood. We develop a theory of domestic-international interactions in the global adoption of environmental ministries. We argue that domestic factors can sensitize a country to different types of international influence: foreign pressure, external support for capacity building, and learning effects. Empirically, we examine the global spread of environmental ministries, 1960-2009. We find that countries have strong incentives to establish environmental ministries when they are undergoing a democratic transition and environmental problems are salient at the international level. In other words, the democratization of a country allows international factors to promote the formation of a national environmental ministry. The findings contribute to the study of domestic-international linkages and help understand global trends in environmental governance during a period of unprecedented environmental destruction.