Policy Outcomes

Abstract

To understand social movement outcomes, we investigate what those outcomes are. Saying that a campaign preceded policy change is not enough. We must show that the movement played a role in that policy change. Using the case of the climate change movement in the UK, specifically looking at the campaigns to create the Climate Change Act, stop the third runway at Heathrow, and establish the Green Investment Bank, I will explore which outcomes the campaigns were able to achieve. I do this by applying a counterfactual approach. A counterfactual approach asks ‘what if’ questions and uses data to provide a solid answer. Here we are asking the question, What would have happened to the policies if there were no social movement campaigns?