Abstract
Governance models influence the approach that public service organizations take when implementing programs, policies, and practices. The networked model of governance supports the involvement of multiple actors who span organizational boundaries and roles to implement solutions to address complex social problems. This paper presents the utility of network analysis for the study of policy implementation from a network perspective. The paper describes networks within the context of social work policy implementation, basic network components, common structural variables, and sources of data for the study of policy implementation. A study of a statewide policy implementation is partially presented as an illustration of the use of network analysis in social policy research. The illustration uses primary and secondary data with network analysis techniques to identify and describe the patterns of interactions that comprise the structure of the implementation network. The illustration will present examples of the study findings to demonstrate the utility of network analysis in identifying central network actors and describing the density of the network according to different network variables. The paper concludes with a summary of the utility of network analysis in the study of policy implementation with recommendations for future research.
Highlights
Governance models influence the approach that public service organizations take when implementing programs, policies, and practices
The rise of analytical tools and prolific publication of network analysis research has resulted in increased attention to analyzing policy implementation from a networked governance perspective
Network analysis can serve as a tool for social work policy practitioners to empirically analyze measures of power that are essential to informing strategies aimed at influencing policy
Summary
Governance is not synonymous with government; it is focused on an overarching structure and meaning of government as opposed to the functions of government itself (Rhodes, 1996). A basic premise of the networked governance model is the state does not carry the sole burden of solving the problem and it involves actors who are close to the problem in developing the solution This model includes a shift from the state being the sole provider of services to an increasing trend where the central government is providing funds to “regional actors” to implement policy solutions The rise of networks in policy implementation is a result of trends in dispersing resources across public and private entities and shifts from a hierarchical approach to more collaborative decisionmaking processes amongst actors involved in the development and implementation of policy solutions (Knoke, 2011)
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