Suchergebnisse

'Modernes demokratisches Regieren geschieht selten über traditionelle Webersche Hierarchien oder reine 'Märkte'. Stattdessen werden politische Entscheidungen über eine Art hybrides Arrangement einer Anzahl von unterschiedlichen Akteuren getroffen, von denen einige private oder öffentliche Institutionen repräsentieren. Das Konzept von Politiknetzwerken - Cluster von Akteuren, die jeweils ein Interesse an einem bestimmten Politikfeld und die Fähigkeit besitzen, politischen Erfolg oder Misserfolg mitzubestimmen - wurde als eine Methode entwickelt und verfeinert, die versucht, die Ergebnisse von politischen Entscheidungsprozessen über solche hybriden Arrangements zu beschreiben, zu erklären und vorauszusehen. Regieren über Politiknetzwerke ist auf der europäischen Ebene so weit verbreitet, weil es auf bedeutende Weise von Experten dominiert wird und stark abhängig von dem 'Regieren durch Ausschüsse' ist. Die Erforschung von Politiknetzwerken hat nützliche Resultate geliefert, doch wir bleiben noch etwas von einer einmütigen, plausiblen 'Theorie' von Politiknetzwerken entfernt.' (Autorenreferat)

In discussing policy network approaches & the limited use of power, this chapter examines two forms of network analysis: "change within policy networks" & "networks as a result of change." It then expands on the concept of power. Of particular interest is the idea that an analysis that focuses only on the policy network fails to completely explain policy making & governance changes when the nation-state model is experiencing intense change. Therefore, a three-step theory of power, motivated by numerous scholarly works, is employed. It is hoped that an emphasis on agency & structure will result in the emergence of a more advanced conceptualization of the power of policy making & governance. In addition, a policy network approach will encourage the "change of focus" necessary to secure an adequate explanation for the changes that affect society in general. 1 Figure. K. A. Larsen

The concept of networks is one of interest and importance in the study of politics and policy-making. This book offers an integrated set of studies of different policy areas which use a common framework and set of terms to explore common features and variations between policy areas

This paper examines features common to both policy analyses and community-power studies, focusing on the conceptualization of power, the boundary specification of the system, the content of relationships and the effects of institutional frameworks. Two community studies, `Altneustadt' and `Towertown', provide the empirical basis. The effects of the institutional frameworks on policy-domain networks and the relation between policy-domain networks and policy networks are analyzed empirically, with information relationships as the most important content of the networks. With regard to boundary specification, actors in issue-specific networks differ from the discussion partners of actors within the social system, depending on the phase in the political process. Both pluralistic approaches and structural aspects of the policy domains are analyzed. In theory, the different institutional conditions in the German and American communities lead one to expect differences that can, in fact, be demonstrated empirically.

IN ADDITION TO THE WELL-KNOWN PROGRAMME FOR FLOOD PROTECTION, DUTCH WATER POLICY CONSISTS OF TWO MAIN SUBSECTORS; WATER SUPPLY AND GROUND WATER PROTECTION, AND SURFACE WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT. IN THIS CONTRIBUTION SPECIAL ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE CHARACTERISATION OF THESE SUBSECTORS USING TWO NETWORK VARIABLES; MUTUAL COMMITMENT AND INTERRELATEDNESS. THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE OF THESE FEATURES AND THEIR RELATION WITH POLICY OPPORTUNITIES ARE EXAMINED, THE WATER SUPPLY SECTOR WAS AMALGATED INTO LARGER COMPANIES AND DEVELOPED MORE COOPERATION AS A RESULT OF THE PRESSURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE, WHICH MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTINUE PUMPING AND BILLING. THOUGH THE SECTOR IN A SENSE BECAME MORE INTEGRATED, THIS WAS ACCOMPANIED BY AN INCREASED NEED TO DO BUSINESS WITH OTHER INTERESTS, SUCH AS AGRICULTURE. THE SURFACE WATER QUALITY SUBSECTOR ALSO MOVED FROM A VERY INTEGRATED COMMUNITY INTO A MORE OPEN STRUCTURE. THIS OPENNESS IS, HOWEVER, TO A LARGE EXTENT ORGANIZED BY THE SECTOR ITSELF, BY INCORPORATING OTHER INTERESTS IN THEIR COUNCILS AND COMMITTEES. BOTH SUBSECTORS INCREASINGLY ADOPT A CONSENSUAL APPROACH IN DEALING WITH THESE OTHER INTERESTS.

English
The subject of this article is learning processes in public policies. Twenty-eight case studies in the areas of environmental, agricultural and health policy, which were part of the Swiss National Research Programme No 27, Effectiveness of public policies, were used as a basis for studying the way in which inter organisational learning processes unfold in different policy fields (stimuli, knowledge transfer, social processes etc), the learning paths and forms of learning which can be identified within these processes and the conditions under which social processes can become successful learning processes. (The study is fully reported in Knoepfel et al, 1997. Conceptual preparatory work can be found in Kissling and Knoepfel, 1993; Kissling et al, 1994; Kissling-Näf and Knoepfel, 1994a; 1994b.)