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Analyzing and Managing Policy Processes in Complex Networks: A Theoretical Examination of the Concept Policy Network and Its Problems
Abstract
In the last 10 years, policy networks have become a popular concept to analyze policy making in muli-actor settings. This article argues that although stimulating and interesting, the research that has been done in this field can be improved in three ways. The first way to improve the usefulness of the concept network is to pay more attention to the dynamics of policy making. In this article, the concept game is used to conceptualize this dynamic character of policy processes. Second, the concept network stresses the context of policy making, buta coherent theoretical framework on how this coextisformed and changed is lacking. This article attempts to make some steps toward such a theoretical framework.Central in this framework is the idea of the duality of structure proposed by Giddens and the notion of rules. Finally, the literature on networks could gain relevance by directing more systematic attention on how complex policy processes in these networks can be managed Building on earlier work, especially in interorganization theory some management strategies are discussed.
... Three main indicators are used to analyse the interview. First, common information which constitutes common knowledge base is employed to analyse the mechanisms of network integration (Agranoff, 2003;Comfort, 1994;Jennings & Ewalt, 1998;Klijn, 1996;Provan & Sebastian, 1998). Second, communication system is used to analyse how the change of environment showed difference in infrastructure (Agranoff, 2003;Jennings & Ewalt, 1998;Klijn, 1996;Provan & Sebastian, 1998). ...
... First, common information which constitutes common knowledge base is employed to analyse the mechanisms of network integration (Agranoff, 2003;Comfort, 1994;Jennings & Ewalt, 1998;Klijn, 1996;Provan & Sebastian, 1998). Second, communication system is used to analyse how the change of environment showed difference in infrastructure (Agranoff, 2003;Jennings & Ewalt, 1998;Klijn, 1996;Provan & Sebastian, 1998). Third, joint activities serve as an indicator to observe how multiple organizations coordinated in disaster (Bazzoli et al., 2003;Jennings & Ewalt, 1998;Shortell et al., 2002). ...
... Procedural approach to network effectiveness stresses the shared understanding among the actors regarding how the network have operated and evolved throughout the changing environment. Thus, in this section, the mechanisms of network integrations-common information, communication systems, joint activities-are investigated through semistructured interviews (Agranoff, 2003;Bazzoli et al., 2003;Jennings & Ewalt, 1998;Klijn, 1996;Provan & Sebastian, 1998;Shortell et al., 2002). These indicators measure the network effectiveness which are difficult to be measured by structural indicators in network analysis. ...
Governments grapple with the challenges of uncertainty and complexity in disasters due to interconnected actors. This research explores how government organizations can effectively operate during disasters. Two aspects of network effectiveness—structural and procedural approaches—are considered. The structural approach emphasizes the network stability, while the procedural approach focuses on the process of network evolution. Analysing and comparing response networks from two earthquakes in Korea, a crucial environmental change—government reorganization—between them was identified. This allowed to assess how environmental changes impact network effectiveness. The findings suggest that effective disaster management requires complementing centralized authority with actual power distribution, empowering subnetwork groups as centres of common knowledge base, and emphasizing coordination among organizations with diverse expertise.
... Het concept netwerken is welhaast gemeengoed geworden om het handelen van overheidsorganisaties te beschrijven en te analyseren (Hanf & Scharpf, 1978; Marsh & Rhodes, 1992;Klijn, 1996;Stoker, 1998;Klijn, 2005;Meier & O'Toole, 2005). Ook lokale overheden, zoals gemeenten, opereren in toenemende mate in netwerkverband, waarbij op basis van wederzijdse afhankelijkheid samenwerking met andere organisaties wordt gezocht. ...
... De gedachte dat het handelen op basis van eigen belang niet toereikend is om maatschappelijke problemen op te lossen en de gedachte dat organisaties samenwerking moeten zoeken om steeds complexere problemen het hoofd te bieden hebben ruimte gegeven aan de netwerkbenadering (O'Toole, 1997;Pierre, 2000;Agranoff & McGuire, 2001;Klijn, 2005;Vrangbaek, 2009). Centraal in deze benadering staat de gedachte van wederzijdse afhankelijkheid (Hanf & Scharpf, 1978;O'Toole, 1986;Marsh & Rhodes, 1992;Klijn, 1996;Edelenbos & Klijn, 2005;Klijn, 2005). Professionalisering, globalisering, de vervlechting van de publieke en de private sector, maar ook het toenemende gebruik van informatietechnologie hebben deze wederzijdse afhankelijkheden tussen organisaties versterkt (De Bruijn & Ten Heuvelhof, 1999;Agranoff & McGuire, 2001). ...
... The common approach is to model certain parts of an application domain as an artificial network, analyse the network using existing methods and tools, and based on the network analysis results draw conclusions and take control decisions concerning that application domain. Examples include machine learning models [47], semantic representations of language notations [48], [49], systems biology investigations, and public sector organisations and policy networks [50]. ...
Regulatory compliance in the pharmaceutical industry is challenging, requiring dedicated resources and meticulous control over production processes to ensure adherence to established regulatory guidelines, specifically ALCOA+ (Attributable, Legible, Contemporaneous, Original, Accurate, Complete, Consistent, Enduring, and Available) principles. This paper introduces an innovative approach to assess pharma regulatory compliance, utilizing a network model of the production process. The model dynamically configures production line characteristics based on manufacturing process data, overcoming complexity and scalability challenges. Purpose: The main purpose is to address the challenges of regulatory compliance in the pharmaceutical industry by introducing a novel approach using a network model. The research question involves assessing the effectiveness of this model in ensuring compliance with ALCOA+ principles. Methods: The approach involves dynamic configuration of the network model parameters based on manufacturing process data. Network analysis methods are then applied to evaluate the conformity of manufacturing process data to ALCOA+ principles. Results: Testing the proposed approach on a real dataset from a representative pharma production line demonstrates its effectiveness in assessing pharma regulatory compliance. The results highlight the potential of network modelling in managing data quality and integrity within the regulatory framework. Conclusions: The study concludes that the network model offers a strategic solution for evaluating and ensuring regulatory compliance in pharmaceutical manufacturing. The approach shows promise in addressing the complexities of data management within the stringent regulatory framework of the industry.
This paper examined the Front for Life (Frente pela Vida, FpV), a movement of organised civil society in the health field, which sought to achieve political impact in response to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of the Bolsonaro administration. Information was obtained through a document review of FpV publications, participant observation in meetings, demonstrations, livestreams and events in which the front participated or organised, as well as interviews of participants in its operating group. The analytical categories used were origin, trajectory, movements, management, the relationship between the FpV and the health sector reform movement, sustainability, challenges and the FpV’s prospects. The results showed that the FpV has led a large policy network of individual and collective subjects, scientific entities and organisations representing various segments of civil society to update the health sector movement and expand its social support base. Its trajectory has involved mainly technical, scientific and political action in multiple areas, working with the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches of government, as well as civil society. In conclusion, the FpV has proved to be an important social movement pressing the State to defend life and the universal right to health and to expand and strengthen Brazil’s Unified Health System, the SUS.
KEYWORDS
Politics; COVID-19; Health care reform; Unified Health System
RESUMO Objetivou-se analisar a Frente pela Vida (FpV), um ator da sociedade civil organizado no campo da saúde, que buscou incidir politicamente diante da crise sanitária da pandemia da covid-19 no contexto do governo Bolsonaro. As informações foram obtidas por meio de revisão documental de publicações da FpV, bem como pela observação participante de reuniões, manifestações, lives e eventos nos quais participou ou organizou, além de entrevistas com participantes do seu grupo operativo. A análise considerou as categorias origem, trajetória, atores, gestão, relação entre a FpV e movimento sanitário, sustentabilidade, desafios e perspectivas da FpV. Os resultados evidenciam que a FpV capitaneou uma grande rede de políticas formada por sujeitos individuais e coletivos, entidades científicas e organizações representativas de diversos segmentos da sociedade civil, conformando uma atualização do movimento sanitário com ampliação de sua base de sustentação social. Sua trajetória contemplou, principalmente, a ação técnico-científica e política em múltiplas arenas, tendo nos Poderes Executivo, Legislativo e Judiciário, e na sociedade civil, espaços privilegiados de inserção. Conclui-se que a FpV se revelou importante ator social na conjuntura recente, tensionando o Estado na defesa da vida, do direito universal à saúde e da expansão e fortalecimento do Sistema Único de Saúde.
This paper tells about Singkawang city which embraces a harmonious multicultural society with three major ethnicities, namely TIDAYU (Chinese, Dayak and Malay) and other entities existing besides government. This area has rich cultural diversities give positive advantages for tourism development and bode well for significant local economic growth. Among others, the Cap Go Meh (Chinese religious tradition) is considered to the biggest and international scale event that involves the all of ethnics participatori through networking resources. This event has unique features that attract Chinese diasporas from other regions in Indonesia and neighboring countries. For that reason, the actors involved in this event constitute various social, economic, and political backgrounds. This paper focused on how Singkawang local government can develop a distinctive tourism policy to address the specific multi stakeholder interactions using a qualitative approach. It found that in the context of Singkawang tourism policy, the interaction and dynamic patterns among policy actors are developed through linear individual cooperation. Within this pattern, the interaction amongst policy actors tend to involve certain individuals who have authority in controlling resources regardless of their origin or organizations. In fact, this pattern is very strongly based on family relationships or friendships found in both public and private domains. It has shown that developing Singkawang tourism policy should be developed based on network governance (participatory from resources) and good stakeholder engagement.
A distinctive methodological approach is proposed for evaluating the ‘coordinative effectiveness’ of governance. The approach, conducive to interdisciplinary investigation across different geographical and sectoral contexts, draws from the heterodox Austrian and Bloomington Schools. There is openness to a range of possible conclusions including those running counter to the classical liberal proposals closely associated with these traditions. Complex, multidimensional economic choices involved in formulating and delivering policy are analysed in detail. Stakeholder framings of these choices and their actual and potential outcomes are compared, with a focus on their contrasting normative assumptions, epistemological standpoints and motivations. This can lead to insights concerning actual and potential policy impacts being identified that are relatively neglected by some stakeholders, whether intentionally or not. This, in turn, prompts questions about whether such oversights are caused by how governance and policy processes shape actors’ knowledge and motivations. In this respect, detailed, outcome-orientated analysis of the substantive complexities of policy challenges not only complements but also enriches established, process-focused understandings of coordination in political science and public administration. The approach also informs assessment of ‘meta’ level, questions about how to establish the form and scales of governance for most effectively shaping the role of markets in society.
A critical point is reached in theoretical development when a concept becomes “conventional wisdom” and finds its way into basic textbooks. At that point the concept is in grave danger of ossification: either it becomes so firmly embedded in thinking that it thwarts new conceptualization or it becomes vulnerable to challenges, which call for its abandonment because of its lack of congruity with reality. This paper will discuss a concept which is at such, a critical point: the policy subsystem or “iron triangle” composed of interest group, executive agency and legislative committee.
At a general level this paper is concerned with- the paucity of efforts in, and intel1ectua1 poverty of, what we shall call “black box” theory building. At another level we seek to develop greater clarity and specificity for the concept of policy subsystem. Toward this end we shall demonstrate the efficacy of a political economy framework in analyzing policy subsystems.
There has been a growing tendency in policy science to incorporate parts of the policy environment in theories on policy making (Snellen, 1987). Studies on implementation have shown that the government when implementing its policy must take into account the reactions of several organizations in the policy field, organizations which each have their own aims and goals. An analyst starting from this multi-actor point of view, must analyze decision making as ‘joint action’ (Pressman and Wildavsky, 1983). In this method of analysis the complexity of joint action is accepted. A priori mutual adjustment and consensus building thus become new areas for research. Government is not a monolithic entity. Joint policy making calls for different conceptual approaches to analyze the policy process other than the ‘one-actor-approach’. The configuration theory can be seen as one of the theories that fit in this multi-actor approach to public policy. It is, however, not the only one. In policy science the network approach to the analysis of policy decisions has gained many followers in the last ten years. In this article we will introduce the network perspective on public policy and elaborate on the consequences of this perspective for analysis, evaluation and improvement of public policy. We will also contrast these views with some of the views from the configuration perspective. Three questions will be dealt with:
What are the main features of the network perspective?
How can this perspective be used to analyze policy processes and their outcomes?
What are some similarities and dissimilarities between the network perspective and the cofiguration theory?
Interorganizational analysis suggests the structural requisites for maintaining socially approved conflict while traditional organizational analysis suggests requisites for socially approved states of harmony. A theory of interorganizational co-ordination is presented, based on (1) organizational interdependence, (2) level of organization awareness, (3) standardization of organizational activities, and (4) number of organizations. The power of this theory is illustrated by showing that nine presumably discrete problems of social welfare co-ordination are all variations of these same four factors.
This paper attempts to explain relationships among community health and welfare agencies by viewing them as being involved in an exchange system. Organizational exchange is defined as any voluntary activity between two organizations which has consequences, actual or anticipated, for the realization of their respective goals or objectives. Organizations have need for three main elements: (1) clients, (2) labor services, and (3) resources other than labor services. Theoretically, were all the essential elements in infinite supply there would be little need for organizational interaction and for subscription to co-operation as an ideal for health agencies. Under conditions of scarcity, however, interorganizational exchanges are essential to goal attainment. The interdependence of the agencies is contingent upon three related factors: (1) the accessibility of each organization to necessary elements from outside the health system, (2) the objectives of the organization and particular functions to which it allocates the elements it controls, and (3) the degree to which domain consensus exists among the various organizations.
A major goal of discussions on societal steering within the field of Public Administration is to diminish steering pretentions. Unrealistic expectations concerning the possibilities for societal steering dissipate in these discussions. The monocentric perspective on steering is corrected by pointing out that the government is not the only, nor the central steering authority (Van Vught, 1986). Government operates in a policy arena of mutually dependent actors who are trying to realize their own private goals and who each have their own means of influencing other actors (Ringeling and Hufen, 1990). This perspective on steering, defined as the polycentric perspective, helps to explain the disappointing results of steering by government. The possibilities for making recommendations regarding the improvement of steering results based on research conducted from a polycentric perspective are however limited. Often one has to confine oneself to the recommendation to lower expectations concerning steering results. At times, researchers even resort to using the monocentric perspective when formulating recommendations.
The article emphasizes the importance of theory construction for comparative policy research. Attempts to identify the impact of institutional arrangements on policy choices are complicated by interaction effects between institutionalized boundary and decision rules on the one hand, and `decision styles' on the other hand - which are defined as cognitive and normative patterns that characterize the way in which interests are defined and issues framed and resolved under the applicable rules. A typology of such styles is developed with reference to recent findings of experimental social psychology, and the empirical implications of different combinations of decision rules and decision styles are examined in a game-theoretical context.
This article argues that a multiorganizational unit of analysis, an implementation structure, should be used when describing and evaluating the implementation and administration of programmes.
Programmes are implemented by clusters of parts of public and private organizations. An implementation structure is the administrative entity which programme implementors use for accomplishing objectives within programmes. An organizationally rooted analy sis is therefore inadequate to rationalize the activities surrounding programme imple mentation.
This article defines implementation structures and argues the advantage of using a multiorganizational analytic perspective over the perspective of single organizations.