Revisiting Partisan Politics of Environmental Policy: How Labour Market Outsiders Weaken Left-wing Governments’ Eco-Friendliness

It is well documented that left-wing governments implement more stringent environmental protection measures than their right-wing counterparts. However, given the recent increase in outsiders in labour markets among left-wing voters, this conventional wisdom requires reassessment. Labour market outsiders—those unemployed or in precarious employment—are less likely to support environmental protection due to economic distress and the potential negative economic consequences of such policies. As the outsider population grows, left-wing governments may become more constrained in implementing stringent environmental policies. This study analyses a panel dataset covering 24 OECD member countries from 1990 to 2015 to examine how the size of the outsider population conditions the relationship between government partisanship and environmental policy stringency. The empirical analysis reveals that while a small outsider population results in minimal partisan differences in environmental policy stringency, a large outsider population leads to less stringent environmental protection under left-wing governments than under right-wing governments.