Elizabeth Baldwin
- Associate Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
- Assistant Professor, Global Change - GIDP
- Member of the Graduate Faculty
Contact
Degrees
- Ph.D. Public Affairs
- Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
- State Clean Energy Policies & Stakeholder Involvement: How Stakeholders Affect Policy Implementation
- J.D. Law
- Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
- M.P.A. Public Affairs
- Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
- B.S. Environmental Policy
- Unity College, Unity, Maine, USA
Awards
- Udall Fellowship
- Udall Center, Spring 2021
- Best Comparative Paper
- Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Fall 2014
Interests
Teaching
Environmental policy; environmental law; energy law and policy; policy implementation; the role of civil society and other stakeholders in the policy process
Research
Public administration; public policy implementation; stakeholder involvement in the policy process; energy policy; water policy; policy implementation in developing countries; international environmental law
Courses
2025-26 Courses
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Environmental Policy
HWRS 481 (Spring 2026) -
Environmental Policy
PA 481 (Spring 2026) -
Environmental Policy
POL 481 (Spring 2026) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 481 (Spring 2026) -
Independent Study
PA 699 (Spring 2026) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Fall 2025) -
Policy Analysis II
PA 554 (Fall 2025)
2024-25 Courses
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Internship
PA 593 (Summer I 2025) -
Dissertation
PA 920 (Spring 2025) -
Energy Policy
POL 612 (Spring 2025) -
Environmental Policy
HWRS 481 (Spring 2025) -
Environmental Policy
PA 481 (Spring 2025) -
Environmental Policy
POL 481 (Spring 2025) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 481 (Spring 2025) -
Dissertation
PA 920 (Fall 2024) -
Intermed Econ Public Policy
PA 504 (Fall 2024) -
Public Policy Theories
POL 600 (Fall 2024)
2023-24 Courses
-
Dissertation
PA 920 (Spring 2024) -
Dissertation
PA 920 (Fall 2023)
2022-23 Courses
-
Dissertation
PA 920 (Spring 2023) -
Environmental Policy
HWRS 481 (Spring 2023) -
Environmental Policy
PA 481 (Spring 2023) -
Environmental Policy
POL 481 (Spring 2023) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 481 (Spring 2023) -
Honors Thesis
PA 498H (Spring 2023) -
Master's Report
RNR 909 (Spring 2023) -
Qual. & Mixed Methods
POL 686 (Spring 2023) -
Dissertation
PA 920 (Fall 2022) -
Honors Thesis
PA 498H (Fall 2022) -
Master's Report
RNR 909 (Fall 2022) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Fall 2022) -
Public Policy + Admin
PA 206 (Fall 2022) -
Public Policy + Admin
POL 206 (Fall 2022)
2021-22 Courses
-
Environmental Policy
HWRS 481 (Spring 2022) -
Environmental Policy
HWRS 581 (Spring 2022) -
Environmental Policy
PA 481 (Spring 2022) -
Environmental Policy
PA 581 (Spring 2022) -
Environmental Policy
POL 481 (Spring 2022) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 481 (Spring 2022) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 581 (Spring 2022) -
Independent Study
PA 699 (Spring 2022) -
Master's Report
RNR 909 (Spring 2022) -
Independent Study
PA 699 (Fall 2021) -
Internship
PA 593 (Fall 2021) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Fall 2021) -
Public Policy + Admin
PA 206 (Fall 2021) -
Public Policy + Admin
POL 206 (Fall 2021)
2020-21 Courses
-
Honors Thesis
PPEL 498H (Spring 2021) -
Master's Report
RNR 909 (Spring 2021) -
Environmental Policy
HWRS 481 (Fall 2020) -
Environmental Policy
PA 481 (Fall 2020) -
Environmental Policy
POL 481 (Fall 2020) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 481 (Fall 2020) -
Honors Thesis
PPEL 498H (Fall 2020) -
Independent Study
PA 699 (Fall 2020) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Fall 2020)
2019-20 Courses
-
Environmental Policy
HWRS 581 (Spring 2020) -
Environmental Policy
PA 581 (Spring 2020) -
Environmental Policy
POL 581 (Spring 2020) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 581 (Spring 2020) -
Honors Thesis
POL 498H (Spring 2020) -
Public Policy + Admin
PA 206 (Spring 2020) -
Public Policy + Admin
POL 206 (Spring 2020) -
Senior Capstone
EVS 498 (Spring 2020) -
Environmental Policy
HWRS 481 (Fall 2019) -
Environmental Policy
PA 481 (Fall 2019) -
Environmental Policy
PA 581 (Fall 2019) -
Environmental Policy
POL 481 (Fall 2019) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 481 (Fall 2019) -
Honors Thesis
POL 498H (Fall 2019) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Fall 2019) -
Senior Capstone
EVS 498 (Fall 2019)
2018-19 Courses
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Independent Study
PA 699 (Spring 2019) -
Master's Report
RNR 909 (Spring 2019) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Spring 2019) -
Public Policy + Admin
PA 206 (Spring 2019) -
Public Policy + Admin
POL 206 (Spring 2019)
2017-18 Courses
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Energy Policy
POL 612 (Spring 2018) -
Honors Thesis
POL 498H (Spring 2018) -
Nonprofits in Policy Process
PA 510 (Spring 2018) -
Environmental Policy
HWRS 481 (Fall 2017) -
Environmental Policy
PA 481 (Fall 2017) -
Environmental Policy
POL 481 (Fall 2017) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 481 (Fall 2017) -
Honors Thesis
POL 498H (Fall 2017) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Fall 2017)
2016-17 Courses
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Civil Soc & PP Imp
PA 510 (Spring 2017) -
Independent Study
PA 499 (Spring 2017) -
Environmental Policy
HWRS 481 (Fall 2016) -
Environmental Policy
PA 481 (Fall 2016) -
Environmental Policy
POL 481 (Fall 2016) -
Environmental Policy
RNR 481 (Fall 2016) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Fall 2016)
2015-16 Courses
-
Civil Soc & PP Imp
PA 510 (Spring 2016) -
Pol,Policy+Public Mgmnt
PA 503 (Spring 2016)
Scholarly Contributions
Chapters
- Thiel, A., Pacheco-Vega, R., & Baldwin, E. (2018). Institutional change in polycentric governance: Performance, evolution and institutional crafting. In Governing Complexity. Cambridge.
- Baldwin, E., Dell'Angelo, J., McCord, P., Cox, M., Gower, D., Caylor, K., & Evans, T. (2014). Multi-level Governance of Irrigation Systems and Adaptation to Climate Change in Kenya. In The Global Water System in the Anthropocene: Challenges for Science and Governance.
Journals/Publications
- Cheng, H., Baldwin, E., Ponce, A., Lien, A., Henry, A. D., Gornish, E., & Soto, J. R. (2025). Wildfire Evacuations Prompt Increased Support for Wildfire Mitigation Policies in Pima County, Arizona. Society and Natural Resources, 38(Issue). doi:10.1080/08941920.2025.2475503More infoWhile environmental disasters like wildfires have grown in frequency and impose significant recovery costs, policymakers often under-invest in cost-effective disaster mitigation policies. Disasters sometimes act as “focusing events” that can capture public attention and increase public support for disaster mitigation, yet not all disasters have a meaningful effect on public attitudes, and the mechanisms behind attitude differences remain underexplored. Drawing on the Values-Beliefs-Norms framework, we propose that disasters influence support for mitigation policies by altering peoples’ underlying beliefs about disasters if and when those disasters directly threaten something that people value. Using a post-wildfire online choice experiment survey in Pima County, Arizona, we assess how wildfire exposure affects support for local wildfire risk reduction and preferences for referendum policies. Results showed that those who personally knew evacuees were more likely to vote “yes” for referendum policies, were less sensitive to program costs, and favored policies that prioritize homes over ecological goals.
- Gore, C. D., MacLean, L. M., Brass, J. N., Baldwin, E., Mitullah, W. V., & Porisky, A. (2025). Distributional justice and rapid green energy transitions: citizen experiences in Kenya. Environmental Research Letters, 20(Issue 6). doi:10.1088/1748-9326/add27dMore infoA global movement promotes and supports the concept of just energy transitions. Advocates endorse the combined goals of universal, affordable access to electricity, and the use of clean, renewable sources of energy. In the Global South and particularly Africa, international organizations are promoting these rapid green energy transitions with financing and encouraging private sector investment and innovation. What remains unclear is how rapid green energy transitions are experienced by citizens, especially the poor in the Global South. Are the transitions just or equitably shared across populations? Kenya is an important country for assessing this question. Kenya is expected to achieve SDG 7, ‘sustainable energy access for all’, by 2030, one of the few African countries to reach this milestone. Kenya’s achievements, however, mask significant tensions surrounding its rapid energy transition. This paper reveals a mismatch between national and global narratives about access to electricity compared to local-level citizen experiences. The paper argues that the current transition aims for but is not achieving distributional justice. While there are many valuable lessons to take from Kenya’s experience, there are also significant concerns as the poor are carrying a heavy burden of the transition. Our analysis is based on focus groups, qualitative interviews, and survey data. The paper concludes by reflecting on the lessons from this critical case about the relationship between the global promotion of just energy transitions and African citizen needs.
- Hovanes, K. A., Gornish, E. S., Thies, S., Baldwin, E., Ossanna, L., Dosamantes, E., & Lien, A. (2025). Hot child in the city: Drivers of urban buffelgrass presence in Tucson, Arizona. Conservation Science and Practice, 7(Issue 2). doi:10.1111/csp2.13297More infoInvasive species distributions and ecological impacts in natural ecosystems have been broadly studied, but invasive species urban distributions and impacts on human populations warrant further investigation. Urban areas are highly disturbed environments at high risk of invasion by non-native species, and urban infrastructure can influence the dispersal and abundance of invasive species. Furthermore, in areas with concentrated human populations, invasive species may pose a risk to human as well as native biota. Here, we examine (1) how high-traffic roadways and the presence of suitable habitat influence buffelgrass abundance in residential areas and (2) whether buffelgrass differentially invades residential areas across socioeconomic levels and racial diversity indices in Tucson, Arizona. We found that, within residential areas, the presence of vacant lots was positively associated with buffelgrass abundance; however, there was no relationship between other suitable habitat types and buffelgrass abundance. We found no relationship between road type and buffelgrass abundance in residential areas. We found that lower-income communities were more likely to be invaded by buffelgrass, but there was no relationship between racial diversity index and buffelgrass abundance. Understanding drivers of invasive species presence and abundance in urban areas is necessary to inform urban management strategies to prevent spread to surrounding wildlands.
- Ahn, M., Baldwin, E., & Girone, D. (2024). Caution as a Response to Scientific Uncertainty: A Groundwater Game Experiment. International Journal of the Commons, 18(1). doi:10.5334/ijc.1347More infoUnderstanding and managing uncertainty is critical for robust governance. In groundwater management, where collaborative, community-based governance is increasingly common, scientific uncertainty about hydrological conditions could pose challenges to effective and equitable resource management. This study bridges two literatures – collaborative governance and collective action – to examine whether scientific uncertainty about hydrologic conditions undermines the performance of groups that engage in collaborative governance of shared groundwater resources. We conducted a modified groundwater game experiment, based on Meinzen-Dick et al. (2016), where participants engage as resource users in a crop choice game over multiple rounds. But unlike the original game, where participants had full information about recharge rate, two treatments introduced scientific uncertainty in water recharge: uncertainty framed as a range of estimates about groundwater recharge, and uncertainty framed as competing hydrological models predicting different groundwater recharge rates. We also expand on the original game by exploring a wider range of outcomes that include not only sustainable resource use but also group earning and equitable distribution of earnings across players. Analyzing data from 30 group games, our findings suggest that scientific uncertainty can help safeguard shared groundwater resources by prompting users to exercise caution in the face of uncertain recharge rates. This effect was more consistent for the range of estimates treatment than for the competing hydrological models treatment. To unpack the mechanisms behind the experimental result, we also analyzed participants’ communications during the game to understand the strategies that collaborative groups use to cope with uncertainty. In the presence of scientific uncertainty, collaborative processes foster cautious behavior and protect shared resources.
- Baldwin, E., & Ahn, M. (2024). Using Strategic Games to Illustrate Environmental Policy Concepts for Undergraduates. Journal of Political Science Education, 21(Issue). doi:10.1080/15512169.2024.2394500More infoA growing body of literature highlights the benefits of using classroom games to help students understand policy concepts. In practice, however, instructors often use games as ad-hoc activities to increase student engagement, rather than as an integrated way to consolidate student understanding of core course topics. The goal of this paper is to help instructors design and systematically integrate games into their undergraduate policy courses. Drawing on our experiences as instructors and researchers, we describe how we developed a sequence of games to help undergraduate students understand three of the core concepts in environmental policy, and how we integrated them into our undergraduate courses on environmental policy. We then provide a basic framework for instructors who are interested in designing games that illustrate core policy concepts by simulating real-world policy interactions.
- Ahn, M. W., & Baldwin, E. (2020). Who benefits from collaborative governance? An empirical study from the energy sector. . Public Management Review.
- Feng, X., Swann, A. L., Breshears, D. D., Baldwin, E., Cheng, H., Derbridge, J. J., Fei, C., Lien, A. M., López-Hoffman, L., McCarl, B., McLaughlin, D. M., & Soto, J. R. (2023). Distance decay and directional diffusion of ecoclimate teleconnections driven by regional-scale tree die-off. Environmental Research Letters, 18(Issue 11). doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acff0dMore infoClimate change is triggering regional-scale alterations in vegetation including land cover change such as forest die-off. At sufficient magnitudes, land cover change from forest die-off in one region can change not only local climate but also vegetation including agriculture elsewhere via changes in larger scale climate patterns, termed an ‘ecoclimate teleconnection’. Ecoclimate teleconnections can therefore have impacts on vegetative growth in distant regions, but the degrees to which the impact decays with distance or directionally diffuses relative to the initial perturbation are general properties that have not been evaluated. We used the Community Earth system model to study this, examining the implications of tree die-off in 14 major US forested regions. For each case we evaluated the ecological impact across North America as a function of distance and direction from the location of regional tree die-off. We found that the effects on gross primary productivity (GPP) generally decayed linearly with distance, with notable exceptions. Distance from the region of tree die-off alone explained up to ∼30% of the variance in many regions. We also found that the GPP impact was not uniform across directions and that including an additional term to account for direction to regional land cover change from tree die-off was statistically significant for nearly all regions and explained up to ∼40% of the variance in many regions, comparable in magnitude to the influence of El Nino on GPP in the Western US. Our results provide novel insights into the generality of distance decay and directional diffusion of ecoclimate teleconnections, and suggest that it may be hard to identify expected impacts of tree die-off without case-specific simulations. Such patterns of distance decay, directional diffusion, and their exceptions are relevant for cross-regional policy that links forests and other agriculture (e.g. US Department of Agriculture).
- Gornish, E., Franklin, K., Li, M., Baldwin, E., Lien, A., & Hovanes, K. (2023). Relationships between local-scale topography and vegetation and invasive C4 perennial bunchgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) size and reproduction . Invasive Plant Science and Management, 38-46.
- Gornish, E., Hovanes, K., Franklin, K., Lien, A., Li, Y., Baldwin, E., Li, Y., Baldwin, E., Franklin, K., Lien, A., Hovanes, K., & Gornish, E. (2022). Effects of local scale topography and density on invasive C4 perennial bunchgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) size and reproduction.. Invasive Plant Science and Management, 15.
- Baldwin, E., & Ahn, M. (2022). Who benefits from collaborative governance? An empirical study from the energy sector. Public Management Review, 1-25. doi:10.1080/14719037.2022.2044505
- Baldwin, E., Lien, A., Breshears, D. D., Lopez Hoffman, L., & Soto, J. R. (2021). Diverse stakeholders and their interests matter to the U.S. Forest Service: A Network of Action Situations analysis of how stakeholders affect forest plan outcomes. . Sustainability Science.
- Baldwin, E., Lien, A., Swann, A., Soto, J. R., López-Hoffman, L., Breshears, D. D., Woods, D., Jasso, V., & McLaughlin, D. M. (2022). Diverse stakeholders and their interests matter to the U.S. Forest Service: a network of action situations analysis of how stakeholders affect forest plan outcomes. Sustainability Science. doi:10.1007/s11625-022-01173-4
- Baldwin, E., Villamayor-Tomas, S., Oberlack, C., Kellner, E., & Kimmich, C. (2022). Networks of action situations: a systematic review of empirical research. Sustainability Science. doi:10.1007/s11625-022-01121-2More infoAbstract “Action situations”—events, venues, or physically interdependent instances of decision-making—have become a central unit of analysis in the social–environmental sciences, particularly among scholars interested in bridging the social with the biophysical or ecological side of interdependent decisions. A growing body of empirical studies in social–ecological systems research has recently used case and comparative studies to analyse multiple interdependent action situations, structured into networks. In this article, we take stock of this body of empirical research, synthesize the diverse approaches that scholars have taken to assess “networks of action situations”, and identify fruitful paths forward. We conduct a systematic review of the empirical literature in the field, reviewing and summarizing the key characteristics of the empirical studies, including network features, topologies, methods, and data sources used in each case. We summarize and discuss the conceptualizations, methods, diagnostic procedures, and conclusions used in this body of work in a narrative framework synthesis. The review indicates that an increasingly coherent approach is taking shape, but a systematic, protocol-driven, or formalized approach is only partly emerging. We derive future research needs that could help accumulate knowledge from empirical research.
- Emerson, K., Lopez Hoffman, L., Baldwin, E., Miller, M. L., Scott, T. A., Ram, S., Pidot, J. R., Bethard, S. J., Lien, A., Currim, F., Currim, F., Lien, A., Bethard, S. J., Pidot, J. R., Scott, T. A., Ram, S., Miller, M. L., Baldwin, E., Lopez Hoffman, L., & Emerson, K. (2020). NEPA performance: A framework for assessing EIAs. Environmental Impact Assessment Review.
- Kimmich, C., Baldwin, E., Kellner, E., Villamayor-Tomas, S., & Oberlack, C. (2021). Networks of action situations: a systematic review of empirical research. . Sustainability Science.
- Pillet, M., Baldwin, E., Ernst, K., Maitner, B. S., Newman, E. A., Lien, A., Breshears, D. D., Enquist, B. J., Feng, X., Park, D. S., Boyle, B., Gallagher, R. V., Burger, J. R., Merow, C., Li, Y., Huynh, K. M., Foden, W., Hannah, L., Jørgensen, P. M., , Kraft, N. J., et al. (2022). A review of the heterogeneous landscape of biodiversity databases: Opportunities and challenges for a synthesized biodiversity knowledge base. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31(7), 1242-1260. doi:10.1111/geb.13497
- Baldwin, E., & Tang, T. (2020). Hierarchies, markets, and collaborative networks in energy governance: Multilevel drivers of renewable energy deployment. Journal of Environmental Management.
- Cole, D., Baldwin, E., & Meehan, K. (2021). Goldilocks Deference?. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 18(1). doi:10.1111/jels.12278More infoOver the years, courts reviewing rules and decisions of federal administrative agencies have given those agencies greater or narrower latitude in interpreting enabling legislation, ranging from the “hard look” doctrine to various levels of deference under case names such as Chevron, Auer, and Skidmore. This article examines a distinct type of judicial deference that might arise only in a special subset of cases where an agency is sued by two different interested parties arguing diametrically opposed positions. For example, the EPA may be sued on a major, substantive rule by the regulated industry arguing that the rule is too restrictive and by environmental groups arguing that it is too lax. In such cases, we hypothesize that reviewing courts might exercise “Goldilocks deference,” based on the assumption that if environmental groups and regulated industries are dissatisfied, then the agency's rule must be just about right. Using an empirical dataset of 160 cases, we show that the EPA is more likely to prevail when it is sued by both sides, suggesting that the hypothesis of Goldilocks deference is at least plausible.
- Lien, A. M., Baldwin, E., & Franklin, K. (2021).
Collective Action and Invasive Species Governance in Southern Arizona
. Rangeland Ecology & Management. doi:10.1016/j.rama.2020.10.004More infoInvasive plants can have significant negative effects on human and ecological communities, including reduced productivity and biodiversity and increased fire risk. Effective mitigation of invasive species likely requires action by heterogeneous actors who span jurisdictions, sectors, and levels of governance. While there has been significant research to develop targeted mitigation techniques that slow or halt the spread of specific invasive plants, there has been relatively little complementary work to develop knowledge about the implementation of these management techniques through effective governance systems. To address this gap, we interviewed and conducted archival research on land managers involved in the mitigation of buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare, syn: Cenchrus ciliarus) invasion in southern Arizona to investigate how existing and emerging governance arrangements encourage or undermine individual and collective action to manage invasive plants. Our results show that a key challenge of managing invasive species is identifying the mechanisms that will allow heterogeneous actors to overcome internal barriers to coordination with others and enable collective action. These internal barriers are multifaceted, involving laws and policies, cultural traditions and mandates, the availability of monetary and human resources, and information on causes and consequences of species invasion and effective approaches to mitigation. Approaches to solving these problems must include improved knowledge of internal institutional structures and the opportunities and barriers they present to collective action, the preferences of heterogeneous actors when presented with information about future ecosystem conditions absent coordination, the factors that prevent individuals within different organizations from following through on commitments to participate in collective action institutions, and how each of these conditions affects the availability and persistence of resources for mitigation. Together, improved knowledge of the relationships between these factors may provide new approaches to proactive management of emerging resource management challenges, from invasive species to emerging diseases. - Rountree, V., Baldwin, E., & Hanlon, J. (2021). A review of stakeholder participation in water and renewable electricity: does the resource context matter.. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences..
- Rountree, V., Baldwin, E., & Hanlon, J. W. (2021).
A review of stakeholder participation studies in renewable electricity and water: does the resource context matter?
. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.. doi:10.1007/s13412-021-00726-w - Wilder, B. T., Wilder, B. T., Jarnevich, C. S., Jarnevich, C. S., Baldwin, E., Baldwin, E., Black, J. S., Black, J. S., Franklin, K. A., Franklin, K. A., Grissom, P., Grissom, P., Hovanes, K. A., Hovanes, K. A., Olsson, A., Olsson, A., Malusa, J., Malusa, J., Kibria, A. S., , Kibria, A. S., et al. (2021). Grassification and Fast-Evolving Fire Connectivity and Risk in the Sonoran Desert, United States. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9.
- Cole, D., & Baldwin, E. (2019). Goldilocks Deference. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies.
- Lien, A., Baldwin, E., & Franklin, K. (2019). Collective action and Invasive Species Governance in Southern Arizona.. Journal of Rangeland Management.
- Baldwin, E. (2019). Why and How Does Participatory Governance Affect Policy Outcomes? Theory and Evidence from the Electric Sector. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 30(3), 365-382. doi:10.1093/jopart/muz033
- Baldwin, E., & Emerson, K. (2019). Effectiveness in NEPA decision making: in search of evidence and theory. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 21(4), 427-443. doi:10.1080/1523908x.2019.1615421
- Baldwin, E., Carley, S., & Nicholson-Crotty, S. (2019). Why Do Countries Emulate Each Others' Policies? A Global Study of Renewable Energy Policy Diffusion. World Development.
- Baldwin, E., Chen, T., & Cole, D. (2018). Institutional analysis for new public governance scholars. Public Management Review.
- Brass, J., Schon, J., MacLean, L., & Baldwin, E. (2019). Spatial Analysis of Bureaucrats’ Attempts to Resist Political Capture in a Developing Democracy: The Distribution of Solar Panels in Ghana. Political Geography.
- Gore, C., Brass, J., Baldwin, E., & MacLean, L. (2019). Political Autonomy and Resistance in the Liberalization of the Electricity Sector in Africa. World Development.
- Rowe, M. J., Baldwin, E., & Finley, J. (2019). Consultation without accountability: An analysis of tribal consultation under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.. Arizona Journal of Environmental Law and Policy.
- Baldwin, E. (2018). Exploring How Institutional Arrangements Shape Stakeholder Influence on Policy Decisions: A Comparative Analysis in the Energy Sector. Public Administration Review, 79(2), 246-255. doi:10.1111/puar.12953
- Baldwin, E. (2018). From Regulation to Governance in the Electric Sector. Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports, 5(1), 86--92.
- Baldwin, E., Chen, T., & Cole, D. (2018). Institutional analysis for new public governance scholars. Public Management Review, 21(6), 890-917. doi:10.1080/14719037.2018.1538427
- Baldwin, E., McCord, P., Dell'Angelo, J., & Evans, T. (2018). Collective action in a polycentric water governance system. Environmental Policy and Governance, 28(4), 212-222. doi:10.1002/eet.1810
- Baldwin, E., Rountree, V., & Jock, J. (2016). Distributed Resources and Distributed Governance: Stakeholder Participation in Clean Energy Governance. Energy Research and Social Science.
- McCord, P., Dell'Angelo, J., Waldman, K., Baldwin, E., & Evans, T. (2018). Assessing multi-level drivers of adaptation to climate variability and water insecurity in smallholder irrigation systems.. World Development.
- McCord, P., Waldman, K., Baldwin, E., Dell'Angelo, J., & Evans, T. (2018). Assessing multi-level drivers of adaptation to climate variability and water insecurity in smallholder irrigation systems. World Development, 108(Issue). doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.02.009More infoSmallholder agriculturalists employ a range of strategies to adapt to climate variability. These adaptive strategies include decisions to plant different seed varieties, changes to the array of cultivated crops, and shifts in planting dates. Smallholder access to irrigation water is crucial to the adoption of such strategies, and uncertainty of water availability may prove to be a stimulating force in a smallholder's decision to adjust their on-farm practices. Within smallholder irrigation systems, attributes at multiple levels influence water availability and collective action, and in the process play a role in adaptation: community-level governance institutions may influence trust in others and the ability to overcome appropriation and provisioning dilemmas, and, at the household-level, the availability of irrigation water and socioeconomic and demographic factors may influence farmer willingness to take on the risk of altering their on-farm practices. In this study we investigate smallholder adaptation in Kenya from multiple levels. Specifically, we identify the role of household- and community-level characteristics in shaping smallholder experimentation with different seed varieties. Standard ordinary least squares and logistic regressions are constructed to assess the influence of these interactions on smallholder adaptation. We further discuss the ability of smallholders to respond to poor water provisioning. Among the study's findings is evidence that smallholders are more willing to employ adaptive measures if they have a limited capacity to irrigate.
- Rountree, V., & Baldwin, E. (2017). State-Level Renewable Energy Policy Implementation: Why and How Do Stakeholders Participate?. Frontiers in Communication.
- Carley, S., Baldwin, E., Brass, J., & MacLean, L. (2015). Global Expansion of Renewable Energy Generation: An Analysis of Policy Instruments. Environmental and Resource Economics.
- Carpenter, S., Baldwin, E., & Cole, D. (2016). The Evolution of Legal Institutions for Decentralized Control of Irrigation Water in Kenya. Natural Resources Journal.
- Carpenter, S., Baldwin, E., & Cole, D. (2017). The polycentric turn: A case study of Kenya’s evolving legal regime for irrigation waters. Natural Resources Journal, 57(1).More infoFormal legal systems comprise a major part, but not the only part, of the “rules of the game” that structure social and social ecological interactions. Throughout the twentieth century, centralization and consolidation of legal authority were dominant themes among many, if not all, legal systems. That process may have been successful in some cases, but in others the presumed economies of scale from consolidation and centralization either did not materialize or were offset by other social costs, including the failure to accommodate local knowledge, expertise, and preferences. In what could become a theme of the twenty-first century, many countries, including developing countries, have started to experiment with more polycentric legal systems, as the Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom referred to them, where local users and user groups have a substantial say in designing and administering rules that apply to them. This case study of Kenya amounts to a history of trial-and-error in efforts to develop an effective legal regime to govern use of irrigation water, in a country that has suffered for more than a century from seasonal water scarcity, inefficient water use, and user conflicts over water resources. From colonial efforts to import British riparian law to complete centralization of legal authority early in the post-colonial period, pressure on irrigation water resources and water users only increased. Beginning in 2003, however, the government of Kenya has been engaged in a process that is not one of simple decentralization or devolution of authority; rather, it is a story of increasing polycentricism, with meaningful participation by local, regional, and national actors in law-making and administration. The starting point actually occurred in 1997, when local water users (advised by NGOs) formed Kenya’s first Water User Association (WUA) to help avoid and minimize local water-use conflicts. It worked so well that the national government took notice. In 2003, Kenya’s parliament enacted a brand new Water Act, which not only legally recognized the existing WUA, but actively encouraged and facilitated the creation of what the statute referred to as Water Resources Users Associations (WRUAs). This move to polycentricism appears to have reduced problems, including conflicts, relating to periodic water shortages; and recently drafted (but not yet adopted) legislative proposals would have the effect of strengthening Kenya’s embrace of polycentric legal control over irrigation water management.
- MacLean, L. M., Gore, C., Baldwin, E., & Brass, J. N. (2016). Expectations of Power: Electricity Provision and the Politics of State-Building in Ghana and Uganda. Journal of African Political Economy and Development.
- McCord, P., Dell'Angelo, J., Baldwin, E., & Evans, T. (2015). Polycentric transformation and outcomes in Kenyan watershed management: A dynamic combined IAD-SES analysis. Policy Studies Journal.
- Baldwin, E., Carley, S., Brass, J. N., & MacLean, L. M. (2016). Global Renewable Electricity Policy: A Comparative Policy Analysis of Countries by Income Status. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 19(3), 277-298. doi:10.1080/13876988.2016.1166866
- Baldwin, E., Washington-Ottombre, C., Dell'Angelo, J., Dell’Angelo, J., Cole, D. H., Cole, D., & Evans, T. (2016). Polycentric Governance and Irrigation Reform in Kenya. Governance, 29(2). doi:10.1111/gove.12160More infoIn Kenya, as in many developing countries, centralized control over water resources was implemented to improve agricultural productivity. By the 1980s, however, Kenya's postindependence policies of bureaucratic control were in disarray, and conflicts over water use were common. More recently, Kenya has embarked on a series of reforms that create a polycentric approach to water governance, in which decision making about water resources is shared among multiple, overlapping local, regional, and national authorities. Drawing on archival and field research, we examine these reforms in their historic context and argue that whereas centralized control was poorly adapted to the Kenyan context, polycentric governance is better suited to Kenya's variable social and ecological conditions and the available resources of its administrative agencies.
- Baldwin, E., Washington-Ottombre, C., Dell'Angelo, J., Cole, D., & Evans, T. (2015). Polycentric Governance and Irrigation Reform in Kenya. Governance.
- George, B., MacLean, L., Baldwin, E., & Dickey, E. (2015). The Construction of Citizenship and the Public Provision of Electricity during the 2014 World Cup in Ghana. Journal of Modern African Studies.
- Baldwin, E., Carley, S., Brass, J. N., & MacLean, L. M. (2014). Electrification and rural development: issues of scale in distributed generation.. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment.
- Baldwin, E., & Richards, K. (2013). REDD, PINC, and other shades of green: Institutional requirements for an international forest carbon sequestration treaty in a Post-Kyoto World. Natural Resources Journal, 52(1).More infoAs the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change moves closer to an agreement on reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, more attention must be paid to the institutions that would support an international forest carbon sequestration (IFCS) program. This article identifies key support services that are needed for any IFCS agreement, such as (1) a platform for negotiation and information provision, (2) monitoring and verification of carbon stocks, and (3) dispute resolution. The UNFCCC has not yet selected and designed a particular IFCS program, however. Different programs use different funding streams, calculate carbon savings in different ways, and present different types of risk to individual nations and the international community. These differences have implications for the type of support services needed to support different IFCS programs. This article examines three possible IFCS models to assess the way that IFCS program design affects the key support services needed, and presents a framework for analysis that allows policymakers to recognize the tradeoffs inherent in any set of institutional choices, and select institutions that will support a continued role for IFCS in combating climate change.
Presentations
- Baldwin, E., Gornish, E., Lien, A., Henry, A. D., & Dosamantes, E. (2024). In the weeds: A review and synthesis on invasive species governance. Ostrom WorkshopDosamantes E*, Lien A, Henry A, Gornish ES, Baldwin E..
- Lien, A., Henry, A. D., Gornish, E., Dosamantes, E., & Baldwin, E. (2024). How do you govern a “common bad”? Preliminary design principles for managing invasive species. Ostrom Workshop.
- Breshears, D. D., Lopez Hoffman, L., Woods, D., Jasso, V., Baldwin, E., Lien, A., Breshears, D. D., Lopez Hoffman, L., Woods, D., Jasso, V., Baldwin, E., & Lien, A. (2021, may). Networks of action situations: an empirical application to forest planning. International Associations for the Study of the Commons, Polycentricity Virtual Conference. Online: International Association for the Study of the Commons.
- Evans, T., Lien, A., Boustead, A., Baldwin, E., Zimmer, A., McCann, L., Joshi, N., & Rowitt, J. (2021, October). Rural vs. urban differences in COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting. Online: American Public Health Association.
- Evans, T., McCann, L., Joshi, N., Baldwin, E., Boustead, A., & Lien, A. (2021, November). Design of a national database of state and local COVID-19 policies using the institutional grammar. Institutional Grammar Research Institute Seminar. Online: Syracuse University.
- Franklin, K., Baldwin, E., & Lien, A. (2021, February). Collective action and invasive species governance in southern Arizona. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Online: Society for Range Management.
- Jia, J., Lien, A., Henry, A. D., & Baldwin, E. (2021, June). Environmental contingency and network effectiveness. Public Management Research Conference.
- Ahn, M. W., & Baldwin, E. (2020, Fall). Examining the Distributive Effects of Participatory Governance: An Empirical Study from the Energy Sector. Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management fall research conference (virtual).
- Baldwin, E., & Thiel, A. (2020, Fall). Polycentric Governance: A literature review.. European Consortium for Political Research.
- Baldwin, E., & Thiel, A. (2020, Spring). Polycentric Governance: A literature review.. International Association for the Study of the Commons workshop. Tempe, Arizona.
- Lien, A., & Baldwin, E. (2020, February). Cooperation and collective action for buffelgrass mitigation in southern Arizona. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Denver, CO: Society of Range Management.
- Ernst, K. C., Lopez Hoffman, L., Feng, X., Enquist, B. J., Ferguson, D. B., Huang, T., Merideth, R., Lien, A., Swann, A. L., Park, D. T., Dang, T., Breshears, D. D., Nuñez-Regueiro, M. M., Soto, J. R., Baldwin, E., Baldwin, E., Nuñez-Regueiro, M. M., Soto, J. R., Dang, T., , Breshears, D. D., et al. (2018, June). Crops in a Changing World: Hidden Forest-Agriculture Teleconnections. 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. Jyväskylä, Finland: European Congress of Conservation Biology.
Others
- Baldwin, E., Lopez Hoffman, L., & Emerson, K. (2018, February). Research Brief on Interagency Cooperation on the U.S. Mexico Border. Testimony before a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations February 15, 2018..
- Lopez-Hoffman, L., Baldwin, E., & Emerson, K. (2018, Fall). Interagency Cooperation on the U.S. Mexico Border. PMRC's Management Matters Blog.
- Emerson, K., Lopez Hoffman, L., & Baldwin, E. (2017, April). Border Security vs. Environmental Protection? It’s a False Choice.. Houston Chronicle Op Ed.
- Baldwin, E., & Gajarsa, J. (2015, November). Country Report and Case Study Summary - Tanzania Decentralized Energy Portfolio Review. Submitted to USAID.More infoAfter conducting field research to evaluate USAID-funded energy projects in Tanzania in Summer 2015, I completed a summary report of my findings for USAID, with editorial assistance from a staff member at Management Systems International.
