New research examines how governments can successfully implement climate policies despite pushback from powerful interest groups.

This study introduces Strategic State Capacity, a concept that explains how states actively organize their relationships with various stakeholders to achieve policy goals.

Researchers analyzed four distinct strategies used by state governments:

• Recruiting allies
• Aligning interests
• Limiting access
• Quieting interests

The analysis was conducted using case studies from California, France, Germany, and the United States.

This approach offers fresh insights into distributive politics by focusing on state strategies rather than just bureaucratic capacity. The findings suggest that effective policy implementation requires targeted engagement with interest groups.