ALT screenshot of article front page, abstract reads: In August 2022, the US Congress surprisingly adopted the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which included an ambitious package of decarbonization policies. Drawing on political economy perspectives and document analysis, this article explains the policy process that shaped the IRA. The policymaking process of the IRA is explored through an analytical framework adapted to the polarized political situation in the US, where traditional lawmaking strategies like seeking bipartisan compromise or conventional use of legislative procedures are largely defunct. The analysis shows how the economic shocks induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war generated a window of opportunity for a strengthened pro-climate interest coalition to employ novel policy ideas and creative institutional governance to instigate the enactment of the IRA.

ALT abstract for article, reads: Proposals to reduce South Africa’s dependence on coal-generated electricity have repeatedly stalled despite growing internal and international pressure to decarbonise electricity generation. Where there is a growing body of scholar-ship that identifies barriers to an energy transition in the country, studies that explore how these barriers emerge and are perpetuated are comparatively limited. This paper contributes to this scholarship by looking beyond the energy sector to analyse unresolved debates over how to achieve post-apartheid developmental goals influence access to – and the distribution of – government resources. The paper then shows how in the energy sector different actors use narratives around development to advocate for and oppose measures to restructure the national electricity company and increase procurement of privately generated renewable energy.