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The roles actors play in policy networks: Central positions in strongly institutionalized fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2021

Karin Ingold Open the ORCID record for Karin Ingold [Opens in a new window] ,
Manuel Fischer  and
Dimitris Christopoulos
Karin Ingold*
Affiliation:
Institute of Political Science & Oeschger Centre of Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Switzerland Environmental Social Science Department, Eawag, Switzerland (e-mail: Manuel.Fischer@eawag.ch)
Manuel Fischer
Affiliation:
Environmental Social Science Department, Eawag, Switzerland (e-mail: Manuel.Fischer@eawag.ch)
Dimitris Christopoulos
Affiliation:
MODUL University, Vienna, Austria Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK (e-mail: dimitris.christopoulos@modul.ac.at)
*
*Corresponding author. Email: karin.ingold@ipw.unibe.ch
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Abstract

Centralities are a widely studied phenomenon in network science. In policy networks, central actors are of interest because they are assumed to control information flows, to link opposing coalitions and to directly impact decision-making. First, we study what type of actor (e.g., state authorities or interest groups) is able to occupy central positions in the highly institutionalized context of policy networks. Second, we then ask whether bonding or bridging centralities prove to be more stable over time. Third, we investigate how these types of centrality influence actors’ positions in a network over time. We therefore adopt a longitudinal perspective and run exponential random graph models, including lagged central network positions at t1 as the main independent variable for actors’ activity and popularity at t2. Results confirm that very few actors are able to maintain central positions over time.

Keywords

policy networkcentral network positionsERGMlongitudinal analysisSwitzerland
Type
Research Article
Information
Network Science , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , June 2021 , pp. 213 - 235
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Action Editor: Ulrik Brandes

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