Network and political networks have become today an important challenge for Europe. In addition to the opportunities they offer, they also carry a number of risks. The Internet is changing not only the channels of political communication, but also the content of the policy. Unquestionably, the Internet is now one of the determinants of an individual's position on the social ladder. The use of network resources and possessing digital competences are a condition of being able to access cultural heritage (online distribution channel is becoming the main channel of its promotion), access the offer of the public administration (digitalisation of the public services) and, above all, exercise and search for work (telework, job advertisements). The Digital Agenda is an important policy challenge for the European Union countries.
In one way or another, we are all in this room responsible for having given to the notion of network an immense, and some could say, a hegemonic extension. Either because some of you have created the hardware or software infrastructure that has added digital networks to the already existing water, sewage, road, rail, telegraph, telephone networks, or because others, through media studies, sociology, history, political sciences, and even philosophy and brain science, have tried to capture what is so original in the new networky world generated by those new socio-technical assemblages. The reason I have welcomed the kind invitation of Professor Manuel Castells is that, because of the very extension of network (as a thing of the world as well as a concept), the time has come to check what it really means and maybe to shift somewhat its ambition and modify its real import. When a notion has become enshrined into a work of art like James Cameron's "Avatar" with the planet Pandora itself sprouting its billions of webby connections and the very notion of communication among the Na'vis and their creatures being materialized by a real plug-in of hair, tails, and manes, it might be time to stop and ask: "What have we done?"
In: Manning , N 2002 , ' Actor networks, policy networks and personality disorder ' Sociology of Health and Illness , vol 24 , no. 5 , pp. 644-666 . DOI:10.1111/1467-9566.00312
In this paper two disparate areas of social science theory, actor-network theory and policy networks, will be brought to bear on the problem of explaining the rapid development of an area of medical science and health policy in the UK. There has been a surge of interest in the treatment and management of personality disorder from within both the psychiatric profession and government ministries, and particularly those personality disorders deemed to be severe or dangerous. This has resulted in the development of a new psychiatric classification, the 'dangerous and severe personality disorder' (DSPD), and the funding and development of a new service to deal with it. Major new mental health legislation has been set in train to provide legal backing for the pre-emptive detention of patients with such a diagnosis, despite widespread uncertainty over its status, reliability or predictive capability. In the process of presenting and analysing this development, actor-network theory and policy networks will themselves be reviewed and compared, and common and incompatible elements, foci and mechanisms identified.
In: Legal issues of economic integration: law journal of the Europa Instituut and the Amsterdam Center for International Law, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Band 36, Heft 1, S. 23-55
Recent legal and political science literature has become increasingly critical on the accountability of what are generically referred to as European administrative networks, in which national administrative authorities cooperate with the EU institutions in a myriad of formal and informal ways in the development as well as the implementation of secondary EU legislation. This article deals with two specific regulatory networks – the European Energy Regulators Group (ERGEG) and the European Regulators Group for Communications Networks and Services (ERG). In 2007, the Commission tabled legislative proposals aimed at formalising and strengthening the existing networks in the energy and electronic communications sectors by conferring on them independent agency status. The main aim of this article is to identify the legal and political accountability gaps in the present model of European regulatory networks (ERNs) and the proposed European network agencies. The authors conclude that the creation of the European network agencies will hardly lead to the strengthening of the political and legal accountability of the European regulatory coordination between the national regulatory authorities (NRAs) and the Commission. The authors recommend that the European legislator looks beyond traditional mechanisms to secure political and legal accountability; more attention is urgently required to the creation and detailing of mixed or complementary accountability mechanisms, in which representatives of the European and/or national accountability forums have a secure role to play. In this respect, this article puts forward a number of concrete recommendations to respond to accountability issues arising out of the mixed exercise of European and national powers, such as the creation of a mixed parliamentary commission consisting of members of the European parliament and the national parliaments to monitor the activities of the Commission and the European network agencies.
What are organizations? Where do they come from? How are they transformed and adapted to new situations? In the digital age and in the global network society, traditional theories of the organization can no longer answer these questions. Based on actor-network theory, this book explains organizations as flexible, open networks in which both human and non-human actors enter into socio-technical assemblies by constantly negotiating and re-negotiating programs of action. Organizations are not macro social structures or autonomous systems operating behind the backs of individuals. Instead, they are scalable actor-networks guided by network norms of connectivity, flow, communication, participation, authenticity, and flexibility.
An approach that has been suggested as potentially addressing the challenges of science-policy-interfaces (SPIs) is the mobilization of existing networks through a 'network-of-networks' (NoN) approach. This paper shares empirical findings from a mixed-method study, combining qualitative and quantitative data, that critically evaluates the 'network-of-networks' approach for SPIs. To establish whether and how a NoN can help existing networks act more effectively at the boundary of science and policy, we use the Eklipse Mechanism as a key example. We analyse the major characteristics of networks active in biodiversity-focused science-policy interactions, the potential roles and types of engagement of participants, and the major challenges faced by networks and individuals when acting at the boundaries of science and policy. Results suggest that the more diverse the actors involved, the more effective the SPI. While a formalized EU-level SPI for biodiversity is welcomed by most respondents, willingness and actual potential to contribute to such an entity differed amongst networks, highlighting that contributions to SPIs are highly dependent on individual and organizational capacities. The challenges faced by individuals and networks range from limited resources to effective communication and achieving meaningful impact even if the institutional context is unrewarding. To make a 'network-of-networks' model fully operational requires meeting the capacity building needs of networks, providing institutional support, and creating room for wider engagement.
What are organizations? Where do they come from? How are they transformed and adapted to new situations? In the digital age and in the global network society, traditional theories of the organization can no longer answer these questions. Based on actor-network theory, this book explains organizations as flexible, open networks in which both human and non-human actors enter into socio-technical assemblies by constantly negotiating and re-negotiating programs of action. Organizations are not macro social structures or autonomous systems operating behind the backs of individuals. Instead, they are scalable actor-networks guided by network norms of connectivity, flow, communication, participation, authenticity, and flexibility.
To analyze social network data using standard statistical approaches is to risk incorrect inference. The dependencies among observations implied in a network conceptualization undermine standard assumptions of the usual general linear models. One of the most quickly expanding areas of social and policy network methodology is the development of statistical modeling approaches that can accommodate such dependent data. In this article, we review three network statistical methods commonly used in the current literature: quadratic assignment procedures, exponential random graph models (ERGMs), and stochastic actor‐oriented models. We focus most attention on ERGMs by providing an illustrative example of a model for a strategic information network within a local government. We draw inferences about the structural role played by individuals recognized as key innovators and conclude that such an approach has much to offer in analyzing the policy process.