2025 Theses Doctoral

Environmental Provisions in Constitutions (EPICs) to Citizenship Action: Do Environmental Rights Matter in Education and Activism?

Rabinowitz, Darren

Environmental degradation, including pollution, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and natural resource depletion, has long been recognized as a significant threat to human societies and ecological systems (Donohoe, 2003; Mansori et al., 2023; Shetty et al., 2023). Over time, these concerns have led to a world-level scientific and broader cultural discussion of environmental issues which have become rapidly integrated within international governmental organizations (IGOs) and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) structures and operations (Frank et al., 2000; Meyer et al., 1997b). Within this emerging global governance architecture, IGOs, INGOs, and civil society actors increasingly promoted legal and institutional mechanisms to safeguard environmental quality (Boyd, 2011; Coglianese, 2001; Hayward, 2004; Gellers, 2017). One important institutional development within this broader process has been the diffusion of substantive environmental provisions in national constitutions (EPICs). These provisions are rights that recognize a basic human right to some degree of environmental quality (May & Daly, 2015). Since the 1970s, more than 80 countries have adopted such provisions (May, 2021), reflecting the growing authority and legitimacy of environmental norms within world culture.

Scholars have well studied EPICs and the reasons for their adoption, yet little is known as to what happens after. The ways EPICs may influence environmental knowledge and behavior is particularly understudied. Long debated is whether these rights are merely words on a paper or if they can be linked to positive environmental outcomes. Studying EPICs are essential in understanding the conditions in which these rights matter. In this dissertation, I investigate whether EPICs influence two different types of individual environmental outcomes: environmental education and civic engagement.

The structure of this dissertation consists of three articles. The first article (chapter two) explores a horizontal axis which compares 22 countries and student environmental education and civic outcomes. The remaining two articles (chapters three and four) examine two vertical pathways which EPICs may relate to policymaking and youth activism within a single country case. Through one quantitative (chapter two) and two qualitative analysis (chapters three and four), this research contributes to the ongoing debate surrounding if and how EPICs matter. The findings suggest that EPICs matter for environmental education and behavior but do so through uneven and non-linear pathways. If EPICs can be used to inform human behavior which is known to be the leading cause of climate change and environmental degradation then exploring these pathways are essential to protect and preserve the only home we have: Earth.

Keywords: Climate and Environmental Education, Civic Engagement, Social movements, Education Policy, Youth Activism