Legitimizing energy transitions through community participation: Germany and Australia at a crossroad

Public acceptance is central to the success of a transition agenda but with the increasing uptake of renewable energy technology, achieving and sustaining the public legitimacy for accelerating the energy transition is at risk. This study provides an updated account of the energy transition development in Germany and Australia with a focus on institutional legitimation. Drawing on the distinction between input and output legitimacy, we query how enabling community participation can enhance the legitimacy of policy instruments. We employ two case studies of energy transitions – those of Germany and Australia – to explain where and how community participation has supported the legitimacy of policy interventions. While input legitimacy remains high in both Germany and Australia, both examples illustrate how policy instruments can lack legitimacy if decision-makers lose sight of or never properly consider the output dimension of legitimacy.