The advocacy coalitions and changes in the u.s. foreign trade and energy policies for ethanol: the influence of internal factors

• Grant number: 14/05455-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: June 15, 2014
• End date: June 14, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Tullo Vigevani
• Grantee: Laís Forti Thomaz
• Supervisor: Eusebio Mujal-Leon
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Georgetown University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/21975-7 - The advocacy coalitions and changes in the U.S. foreign trade and energy policies for ethanol, BP.DR

Abstract

The U.S. Congress created key federal incentives for ethanol production in the 1970s and expanded them throughout the following decades. In late 2011 they ended the legislative mandate without renewing these incentives. The PhD project, entitled "Advocacy coalitions and the changes in the U.S. foreign trade and energy policies for ethanol", aims at demonstrating this result was mainly attributed to changes in advocacy coalition incentives, although external factors have also contributed to these coalitions change. Among internal factors, we highlight changes in strategies and resources of advocacy coalitions, as well as interests, perceptions and values from members who are legal authorities and can influence change in public policy. Among external factors, we emphasize ethanol exports, which reached their highest records in 2011; coalitions of government changes arising from the 2010 elections; public opinion shifts regarding the debate on biofuels and food; the emergence of alternative energy and the decisions concerning other subsystems, such as budget cuts to reduce the public deficit. The thesis hypothesis is that such information and analysis will demonstrate if the external factors are prevalent or not in the ethanol subsystem. This research will be based on the advocacy coalition framework which provides accurate references for the analysis of changes in advocacy coalitions inside the political subsystem. During the Research Internship abroad, which will be developed in the Department of Government at Georgetown University, our focus will be on the internal factors that may have been instrumental in changing resources and beliefs within coalitions. We will be able to exchange PhD research methodologies; mapping coalitions strategies and initiatives; attending congressional hearings; analyzing congressional and documental content; carrying out interviews during that period abroad. (AU)