Sustainable development strategies in France: institutional settings, policy style and political discourse

Article abstract:

The sustainable development (SD) strategies of two successive French governments, led by Prime Ministers Jospin (1997-2002) and Raffarin (from 2002), are compared and analysed in relation to three debates: (i) the influence of institutional settings and levels of continuity between international, European and national policy frameworks; (ii) compatibility between SD policy frames, national policy style and institutional capacity and (iii) relationships between traditional political discourses and SD discourse. Difficulties in achieving a good fit are identified in each of these areas, explanations are offered and implications for future developments outlined.