Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Bootleggers and Baptists in American Fuel Economy Regulation – A qualitative content analysis of American automakers’ attitudes towards CAFE-standards

Rehnberg, Philip LU (2021) STVK02 20211
Department of Political Science
Abstract
The thesis aims to explain the American automaker’s drastic shift in opinion
regarding Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)-standards. After years of
lobbying for weaker standards, the automakers suddenly dropped their support for
President Trump’s deregulatory attempts and sided with California, the state
Trump had an ongoing legal fight with over fuel economy regulation. The thesis
intends to outline the carmakers’ motives behind the sudden shift, based on the
theory of bootleggers and Baptists, a theory which highlights situations where
otherwise conflicting groups form coalitions to support a certain regulation, but
for totally different reasons (economic and ethical). A method of qualitative
content analysis is... (More)
The thesis aims to explain the American automaker’s drastic shift in opinion
regarding Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)-standards. After years of
lobbying for weaker standards, the automakers suddenly dropped their support for
President Trump’s deregulatory attempts and sided with California, the state
Trump had an ongoing legal fight with over fuel economy regulation. The thesis
intends to outline the carmakers’ motives behind the sudden shift, based on the
theory of bootleggers and Baptists, a theory which highlights situations where
otherwise conflicting groups form coalitions to support a certain regulation, but
for totally different reasons (economic and ethical). A method of qualitative
content analysis is applied in order to determine if the automakers changed their
position on the issue for economic or ethical (environmental) reasons. By
analyzing official statements, protocols from shareholder meetings as well as
media sources, I find that both arguments occur frequently but that the economic
arguments for keeping strict CAFE-standards are used predominantly. In addition,
I distinguish two groups within the automakers: the early adopters and the later
followers. I conclude that the automakers are bootleggers for using primarily
economic arguments for supporting strict CAFE-standards, while also expanding
the theory to explaining differences within the bootlegger camp. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Rehnberg, Philip LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK02 20211
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, CAFE-standards, fuel economy regulation, bootleggers and Baptists
language
English
id
9045048
date added to LUP
2021-07-06 12:07:35
date last changed
2021-07-06 12:07:35
@misc{9045048,
  abstract     = {{The thesis aims to explain the American automaker’s drastic shift in opinion 
regarding Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)-standards. After years of 
lobbying for weaker standards, the automakers suddenly dropped their support for 
President Trump’s deregulatory attempts and sided with California, the state 
Trump had an ongoing legal fight with over fuel economy regulation. The thesis 
intends to outline the carmakers’ motives behind the sudden shift, based on the 
theory of bootleggers and Baptists, a theory which highlights situations where 
otherwise conflicting groups form coalitions to support a certain regulation, but 
for totally different reasons (economic and ethical). A method of qualitative 
content analysis is applied in order to determine if the automakers changed their 
position on the issue for economic or ethical (environmental) reasons. By 
analyzing official statements, protocols from shareholder meetings as well as 
media sources, I find that both arguments occur frequently but that the economic 
arguments for keeping strict CAFE-standards are used predominantly. In addition, 
I distinguish two groups within the automakers: the early adopters and the later 
followers. I conclude that the automakers are bootleggers for using primarily 
economic arguments for supporting strict CAFE-standards, while also expanding 
the theory to explaining differences within the bootlegger camp.}},
  author       = {{Rehnberg, Philip}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Bootleggers and Baptists in American Fuel Economy Regulation – A qualitative content analysis of American automakers’ attitudes towards CAFE-standards}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}