Network Analysis and Political Science

Ward, Michael D.; Stovel, Katherine; Sacks, Audrey

doi:10.1146/annurev.polisci.12.040907.115949

Cited by 223 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…Of course, network theory has been used to model relational settings in other areas of political science (for a review, see Ward et al, 2011). We focus on these two subtopics simply to provide a sense of how widespread are the uses of network models and analogies in political science.…”

Section: International Trade and Diplomacy Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and networks: An experimental test of how network knowledge affects coordination

2014

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a b s t r a c tScholars in the social sciences use network theory to study a range of collective action problems. Often the goal is to identify how the structure of the network affects efforts to coordinate or cooperate, and research suggests that adding connections to a network can improve the performance of groups faced with such tasks. On the other hand, theory and empirics also suggest that additional connections can degrade the performance of a network. If connections can have negative effects then it is important to consider if there are alternatives to adding connections to a network that can also improve network performance. Because a primary function of connections in a network is to disseminate information, providing individuals with more information about the network may act as a substitute for adding connections to a network. We test experimentally whether providing subjects with more information about the structure of networks can improve coordination. We find that a more complete view of the network leads to faster coordination, but the magnitude of this effect depends on network structure. These results suggest that changing what actors know about a network can improve outcomes without having to add connections that may impede overall performance.

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Section: International Trade and Diplomacy Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and networks: An experimental test of how network knowledge affects coordination

2014

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“…The study of interdependence is part of the core mission of the social sciences, if not the core mission (Ward, Stovel, and Sacks 2011). It is impossible to describe political and social activity without describing how actors (e.g., individuals, groups, states) interact with, react to, adapt to, and influence one another in complex and dynamic ways.…”

Section: Political Science and The "Problem" Of Interdependencementioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating the Range of Statistical Tools for Inferential Network Analysis

Cranmer

Leifeld

McClurg³

et al. 2016

American J Political Sci

174

158

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“…Analyzing "influence among individuals, groups and institutions" has been termed "one of the holy grails of the social science" [32] (p. 245). Dür [33] (p. 1223) identifies four major approaches for assessing the relative influence of actors: "process-tracing, measures of attributed influence, and assessments of the degree of preference attainment" as well as taking an actor's resources as a proxy for influence [33] (p. 1220).…”

Section: Measuring Influence In Complex Multi-actor and Multi-level Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Levels of Governance in Policy Innovation Cycles in Community Education: The Cases of Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Education

Kolleck

Jörgens²,

Well

2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:While there is little doubt that social networks are essential for processes of implementing social innovations in community education such as Climate Change Education (CCE) or Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), scholars have neglected to analyze these processes in the multilevel governance system using Social Network Analysis. In this article, we contribute to closing this research gap by exploring the implementation of CCE and ESD in education at the regional and global levels. We compare the way CCE is negotiated and implemented within and through the global conferences of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with the way the UN Decade of ESD is put into practice through networks in five different German municipalities. We argue that the role of social networks is particularly strong in policy areas like CCE and ESD, which are best characterized as multi-level and multi-actor governance. Based on data derived from standardized surveys and from Twitter we analyze the complex interactions of public and private actors at different levels of governance in the two selected policy areas. We find, amongst others, that the implementation of CCE and ESD in community education depends in part on actors that had not been assumed to be influential at the outset. Furthermore, our analyses suggest the different levels of governance are not well integrated throughout the phases of the policy innovation cycle.

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Network Analysis and Political Science

Cited by 223 publications

References 99 publications

Knowledge and networks: An experimental test of how network knowledge affects coordination

Knowledge and networks: An experimental test of how network knowledge affects coordination

Navigating the Range of Statistical Tools for Inferential Network Analysis

Levels of Governance in Policy Innovation Cycles in Community Education: The Cases of Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Education

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