Networking networkers: An initial exploration of the patterns of collaboration among the members of a new community in political science

A number of indicators signal a growing interest in the study of political phenomena from a network perspective in the United States, such as the growing number of published articles with a network focus in the discipline's top-tier journals and the creation of a new Political Networks section of the APSA in 2008. Yet another notable indicator is the organization of a new annual conference financially supported by the National Science Foundation - the Political Networks conference. The meeting not only brings together scholars who study networks in political science, but also fosters collaboration across disciplines by encouraging participation of non - political scientists with the goal of achieving more comprehensive answers to questions that cannot be properly answered within the confines of individual disciplines. © Copyright American Political Science Association 2011.Fil: Berardo, Alfredo Ramiro. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Politicas y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Self-organizing policy networks: Risk, partner selection, and cooperation in estuaries

Policy actors seek network contacts to improve individual payoffs in the institutional collective action dilemmas endemic to fragmented policy arenas. The risk hypothesis argues that actors seek bridging relationships (well-connected, popular partners that maximize their access to information) when cooperation involves low risks, but seek bonding relationships (transitive, reciprocal relationships that maximize credibility) when risks of defection increase. We test this hypothesis in newly developing policy arenas expected to favor relationships that resolve low-risk dilemmas. A stochastic actor-based model for network evolution estimated with survey data from 1999 and 2001 in 10 U.S. estuaries finds that actors do tend to select popular actors as partners, which presumably creates a centralized bridging structure capable of efficient information transmission for coordinating policies even without any government mandate. Actors also seek reciprocal bonding relationships supportive of small joint projects and quickly learn whether or not to trust their partners.Fil: Berardo, Alfredo Ramiro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. University of Arizona; Estados UnidosFil: Scholz, John T.. Florida State University; Estados Unido

Redes Políticas y Solución de Dilemas de Acción Colectiva: Estudio de la gestión de recursos hídricos compartidos en dos cuencas lacustres de la provincia de Córdoba

El objetivo general de este proyecto es examinar cómo las estructuras de las redes políticas que se forman para gestionar recursos hídricos compartidos en la provincia de Córdoba disponen las actitudes cooperativas de los actores que participan en dichas redes. Dado el deterioro de los recursos hídricos en el país este proyecto cobra importancia, debido a que trabaja desde el supuesto que las actitudes cooperativas facilitan –aunque no de manera lineal- el logro de políticas que protejan efectivamente dichos recursos. Los objetivos específicos para el primer año del proyecto son: 1. Identificar los actores gubernamentales y no gubernamentales activos en los últimos cinco años en los procesos de gestión de recursos hídricos en las cuencas de los lagos San Roque, y Los Molinos (ambos ubicados en la provincia de Córdoba), 2. Identificar las demandas de coordinación y cooperación por parte de dichos actores, 3. Describir las características estructurales de las redes de gestión de los recursos hídricos y su relación con la percepción de los actores acerca de los problemas a enfrentar en las cuencas. El estudio de las redes de gestión en las dos cuencas lacustres seleccionadas es relevante desde el punto de vista de la generación de conocimiento aplicado sobre estos cuerpos de agua que constituyen un ejemplo típico de “recursos compartidos” (common-pool resource) donde la falta de actividades de cooperación y/o coordinación entre los usuarios del recurso se traducen en dilemas de acción colectiva.Fil: Berardo, Alfredo Ramiro. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencia Política y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentin

Testing Policy Theory with Statistical Models of Networks

Abstract This paper presents a conceptual framework for clarifying the network hypotheses embedded in policy theories and how they relate to macro-level political outcomes and micro-level political behavior. We then describe the role of statistical models of networks for testing these hypotheses, including the problem of operationalizing theoretical concepts with the parameters of statistical models. Examples from existing policy research are provided and potential extensions are discussed. This paper is forthcoming as the introduction to a special issue of the Policy Studies Journal on statistical models of policy networks

Trust, Political Influence, and Exchange of Resources in Regional Decision-Making Arenas

La literatura politológica destaca la importancia de la confianza en la emergencia de procesos sociopolíticos cooperativos, pero en la politología latinoamericana, no existen aún exploraciones empíricas de la relación entre confianza y otras variables que también afectan la cooperación en arenas decisorias regionales. Este artículo contribuye a solucionar esta limitación examinando la relación entre confianza, intercambio de recursos y reconocimiento de influencia política, entre actores de 3 regiones sub-nacionales de la Argentina. Los resultados sugieren que tanto el reconocimiento de influencia como el intercambio de recursos se correlacionan de manera muy significativa con las relaciones de confianza que existe entre los actores. Esta relación tiene implicancias sobre procesos de gobernanza a nivel regional, que discutimos en detalle.Research in political science has identified trust as an important variable for the emergence of cooperative social-political processes, but there are no empirical explorations in Latin American political science yet of the relationship between trust and other variables that are thought to affect cooperation in regional decisión-making arenas. This article contributes to addressing this limitation by examining the relationship between trust, exchange of resources, and perception of political influence among actors in 3 sub-national regions in Argentina. Results suggest that these variables are significantly related to each other, which has implications for our understanding of how regional governance processes work. We discuss these implications in detail.Fil: Berardo, Ramiro. Arizona State University; Estados UnidosFil: Mazzalay, Victor Hugo. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Área de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentin

Trust, Political Influence, and Exchange of Resources in Regional Decision-Making Arenas

La literatura politológica destaca la importancia de la confianza en la emergencia de procesos sociopolíticos cooperativos, pero en la politología latinoamericana, no existen aún exploraciones empíricas de la relación entre confianza y otras variables que también afectan la cooperación en arenas decisorias regionales. Este artículo contribuye a solucionar esta limitación examinando la relación entre confianza, intercambio de recursos y reconocimiento de influencia política, entre actores de 3 regiones sub-nacionales de la Argentina. Los resultados sugieren que tanto el reconocimiento de influencia como el intercambio de recursos se correlacionan de manera muy significativa con las relaciones de confianza que existe entre los actores. Esta relación tiene implicancias sobre procesos de gobernanza a nivel regional, que discutimos en detalle.Research in political science has identified trust as an important variable for the emergence of cooperative social-political processes, but there are no empirical explorations in Latin American political science yet of the relationship between trust and other variables that are thought to affect cooperation in regional decisión-making arenas. This article contributes to addressing this limitation by examining the relationship between trust, exchange of resources, and perception of political influence among actors in 3 sub-national regions in Argentina. Results suggest that these variables are significantly related to each other, which has implications for our understanding of how regional governance processes work. We discuss these implications in detail.Fil: Berardo, Ramiro. Arizona State University; Estados UnidosFil: Mazzalay, Victor Hugo. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Área de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentin

Solving Institutional Collective Action Problems in Multiplex Networks

This essay extends theoretical arguments pertaining to single (uniplex) networks on how to solve coordination and cooperation problems associated with institutional collective action to multiplex networks constituting both formal and informal relationships formed by policy actors. While coordination problems reflect difficulties for actors in arriving at jointly desired policy outcomes, cooperation problems mean that actors have conflicting interests and, thus, face incentives to defect on each other. We propose multiplex versions of bridging and bonding networks, which have been found suitable for solving coordination and cooperation problems in single networks. Although our approach is limited to the simultaneous analysis of formal and informal relationships in policy networks, the arguments we present should aid researchers interested in analyzing policy networks beyond these manifestations of inherently complex relationships

‘Bunkering down’: How one community is tightening social-ecological network structures in the face of global change

Complex networks of relationships among and between people and nature (social-ecological networks) play an important role in sustainability; yet, we have limited empirical understanding of their temporal dynamics. We empirically examine the evolution of a social-ecological network in a common-pool resource system faced with escalating social and environmental change over the past two decades. We first draw on quantitative and qualitative data collected between 2002 and 2018 in a Papua New Guinean reef fishing community to provide contextual evidence regarding the extent of social and environmental change being experienced. We then develop a temporal multilevel exponential random graph model using complete social-ecological network data, collected in 2016 and 2018, to test key hypotheses regarding how fishing households have adapted their social ties in this context of change given their relationships with reef resources (i.e. social-ecological ties). Specifically, we hypothesized that households will increasingly form tight-knit, bonding social and social-ecological network structures (H1 and H3, respectively) with similar others (H2), and that they will seek out resourceful actors with specialized knowledge that can promote learning and spur innovation (H4). Our results depict a community that is largely ‘bunkering down’ and looking inward in response to mounting risk to resource-dependent livelihoods and a breakdown in the collaborative processes that traditionally sustained them. Community members are increasingly choosing to interact with others more like themselves (H2), with friends of friends (H1), and with those connected to interdependent ecological resources (H3)—in other words, they are showing a strong, increasing preference for forming bonding social-ecological network structures and interacting with like-minded, similar others. We did not find strong support for H4. Bonding network structures may decrease the risk associated with unmonitored behaviour and help to build trust, thereby increasing the probability of sustaining cooperation over time. Yet, increasing homophily and bonding ties can stifle innovation, reducing the ability to adapt to changing conditions. It can also lead to clustering, creating fault lines in the network, which can negatively impact the community\u27s ability to mobilize and agree on/enforce social norms, which are key for managing common resources