ANALYZING AND MANAGING POLICY PROCESSES IN COMPLEX NETWORKS - A THEORETICAL-EXAMINATION OF THE CONCEPT POLICY NETWORK AND ITS PROBLEMS

In the last 10 years, policy networks have become a popular concept to analyze policy making in multi-actor settings. This article argues th at, although stimulating and interesting, the research that has been d one in this field can be improved in three ways. The first way to impr ove the usefulness of the concept network is to pay more attention to the dynamics of policy making In this article, the concept game is use d to conceptualize this dynamic character of policy processes. Second, the concept network stresses the context of policy making, but a cohe rent theoretical framework on how this context is formed and changed i s lacking. This article attempts to make some steps toward such a theo retical framework. Central in this framework is the idea of the dualit y of structure proposed by Giddens and the notion of rules. Finally, t he literature on networks could gain relevance by directing more syste matic attention on how complex policy processes in these networks can be managed Building on earlier work especially in interorganization th eory, some management strategies are discussed.