Sustainability and politics: Explaining the emergence of the 2020 Budapest climate assembly

Daniel Oross*, Eszter Mátyás, Sergiu Gherghina

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

The relationship between political participation and the pursuit of sustainability at the local level has been investigated extensively in the literature. In this content, the emergence and extensive use of citizens’ assemblies receive particular attention. Much research focuses on the functioning of these assemblies and potential impact in the community. However, we know very little about why such initiatives occur. This article fills that gap in the literature and aims to explain why a citizens’ assembly on climate change was organized. It focuses on the Citizens’ Assembly in Budapest (Hungary), organized in the fall of 2020 with randomly selected citizens. The findings illustrate that although civil society initiated the deliberative process, the prime mover of the Citizens’ Assembly was political. Local politicians pursued this objective to fulfil their election pledges, ensure ideological consistency and promote sustainability.

Original languageEnglish
Article number6100
JournalSustainability
Volume13
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Citizen engagement
  • Political institutions
  • Political participation
  • Sustainability

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