The Role of Civic Participation for Environmental Policy Support

Civil society is often depicted as playing a central role in the transition to a more environmentally sustainable society, for example by contributing to more fair and efficient environmental governance. Evidence for such claims is though limited and has not considered the full variety of motives in civic participation. In this paper, the often over optimistic assumptions about the possibility of civil society to generate environmental cooperation within the public is questioned. By studying attitudes toward environmental policies across members of sport and outdoor organizations, results show that membership is associated with both higher and lower policy support, depending on type of policy. It is furthermore shown that membership simultaneously is linked to policy support through its association with trust and reciprocity in civil society. The results indicate that any efforts to involve civil society in environmental governance carefully must consider the specific motives and circumstances of each organization.