Institutional Paralysis in the Anthropocene

Kim Rakä

Multifunktionsraum A 205, 2. Stock, NIG
Universitätsstraße 7
1010 Wien

Mittwoch, 15. April 2026, 17:00 - 18:30

International environmental institutions are becoming more active yet less effective: outputs expand while outcomes lag. In this lecture, I unpack this puzzle through the lens of institutional paralysis: a persistent incapacity of environmental institutions to act, adapt, or achieve stated objectives despite sustained procedural activity. I argue that paralysis is not simply a matter of weak political will or inadequate funding. It emerges when environmental problems accumulate and interact faster than institutional capacity, and cross-institutional coordination, can scale. Inside organisations, mandates stretch beyond available tools and authority. Across the wider governance system, spillovers, problem shifting, and cascading effects can undermine collective capacity, sometimes intensified by the sheer growth in disruptive interactions. The result is a "Red Queen" dynamic: institutions run faster just to stay in the same place. The lecture examines common coping responses such as denial, procedural expansion, and technocratic fixes, and explains why they can further erode effectiveness and legitimacy. I then outline practical ways to diagnose paralysis and intervene, from survey-based warning signals to system-level reforms, incentive realignment, and, in some cases, the difficult question of retiring institutional "zombies" that occupy space while doing net harm.

Antrittsvorlesung, Public Lecture

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:00:00 +0200