This empirical small-n case study about the potential for a radical policy shift towards strong consumption governance focuses on the opinions of 21 elite actors in positions of power and influence: members of parliament, interest groups, government, and academia in Finland. The opinions gathered by interviews and a survey focused on the acceptability of an 80% reduction of household natural resource use by 2050, and the acceptability of strong policy measures to realize that goal: quotas, high taxes, and other controversial measures. The results revealed respondents’ high awareness of overconsumption, their general willingness to consider new consumption policy measures, and differences in opinions suggesting rifts within the regime. This latent transformation potential and openness to new policies enhances the need for further research, both in terms of policy development and policy acceptability.
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Sanna Ahvenharju (2019) studied this question.