IS POLITICS POWER OR POLICY ORIENTED - A COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC ACCESS MODELS IN POLICY NETWORKS

In policy networks actors use access relations to influence preference s of other actors. Establishment and shifts of access relations and th eir consequences for outcomes of decisions are the main focal points i n this paper. Unlike most policy network studies, we therefore do not take the network and its relations as given and constant. Instead we d evice computer simulation models to account for the dynamics in policy networks. We compare different models and investigate the resulting n etwork structures and predicted outcomes of decisions. The choice amon g the alternative models is made by their correspondence with empirica l network structures and actual outcomes of decisions. In our models, we assume that all relevant actors aim at policy outcomes as close as possible to their own preferences. Policy outcomes are determined by t he preferences df the final decision makers at the moment of the vote. In general, only a small fraction of the actors takes part in the fin al vote. Most actors have therefore to rely on access relations for di rectly or indirectly shaping the preferences of the final decision mak ers. For this purpose actors make access requests to other actors. An access relation is assumed to be established if such a request is acce pted by the other actor. Access relations require time and resources. Actors are therefore assumed to be restricted in the number of access requests they can make and the number of requests they can accept More over, due to incomplete information and simultaneous actions by other actors, actors have to make simplifying assumptions in the selection o f their ''best'' requests and learn by experience. We device two base models that correspond to two basic views on the nature of political p rocesses. In the first view politics is seen as power driven. Correspo nding to this view, actors aim at access relations with the most power ful actors in the field. They estimate their likelihood of success by comparing their own resources with those of the target actors. Power a lso determines the order in which actors accept requests. In the secon d view, policy matters and actors roughly estimate the effects access relations might have on the outcome of decisions. Actors select reques ts to ''bolster'' their own preference as much as possible. We will sh ow that these base models and some intermediate ones result in fundame ntally different network structures and predicted outcomes. Moreover, we will show that the policy driven models do fundamentally better tha n the power driven models.