Toward a Theory of Collaborative Policy Networks: Identifying Structural Tendencies

Abstract

Support for the “democratization of the policy sciences” has led to the development of a number of frameworks and theories to enhance the normative, multidisciplinary approach to policy analysis. However, this approach has been challenged for failing to produce the objective empirical and normative standards implied by its scientific aspirations. One consideration that has been advanced under a variety of rubrics is “participatory policy analysis.” This is a methodological proposal that expands the range of actors/stakeholders involved in the making and execution of public policy in a discursive or deliberative mode. While much of the research on policy networks is focused on the management and coordination of such networks (i.e., collaborative management), there is little attention on analysis of networks as a participatory policy analytical approach. We propose a theory of “collaborative policy networks” that examines not only the stakeholder composition of a group or the partnerships between any two stakeholders but also the way these stakeholders are embedded in various degrees of institutionalized structure and the discursive tendencies of exchange among them that leads to policy initiative, implementation, evaluation, and possibly termination. Collaborative policy networks are characterized by discursive properties, specifically reciprocity, representation, equality, participatory decision making, and collaborative leadership. We suggest that the results of such research can identify structural signatures of collaborative policy networks that serve as “stamps” of the common nature of such networks that, if fostered, can inform and improve the attempt of networks of partners to achieve policy goals.

Network Bibliometrics of Public Policy Journals

“…Policy Studies Journal ( PSJ ), for example, had published no more than a half dozen network analyses in the prior 15 years, but this was an idea whose time had come (Popp, Milward, MacKean, Casebeer, & Lindstrom, ). In the 1999–2014 period, PSJ published over 30 articles about policy networks related to a wide range of topics (e.g., housing, economic development, education, transportation, the environment, and social policy) as well as methodological and theoretical aspects of network analysis (e.g., deLeon & Varda, ; Robins, Lewis, & Wang, ).…”

Managing Complexity and Uncertainty in Regional Governance Networks: A Critical Analysis of State Rescaling in England

“…As regards outcomes, there remains an emphasis on policy integration and innovation, consensus-building and evidenced-based solutions. These similarities in network characteristics or 'structural signatures' (DE LEON and VARDA, 2009) provide scope for lesson drawing.…”

“…Finally, process agreements involve strategies that set the rules for interaction and protect actors' core values (ROBINS, 2008). These rules provide a degree of stability and reciprocity in the network that shape actors' behaviours and responses (DE LEON and VARDA, 2009). …”

Collaborative Performance as a Function of Network Members’ Perceptions of Success

“…As the scale and scope of public health issues become more global and complex, it is evident that traditional quantitative models of public health intervention, implementation, and analysis will not alone suffice to effectively explain how to improve and promote public health problem-solving (deLeon & Varda, 2009;Mabry et al, 2008).…”