Network Interventions: Applying Network Science for Pragmatic Action in Public Administration and Policy

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Siciliano, Michael D., Whetsell, Travis A.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2021
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author Siciliano, Michael D.
Whetsell, Travis A.
author_facet Siciliano, Michael D.
Whetsell, Travis A.
contents Public management and policy scholars have engaged in extensive development of theory and empirical study of networks and collaborative systems of governance. This scholarship has focused on understanding the mechanisms of network formation and the implications of network properties on individual and collective outcomes. Despite rich descriptive work and inferential analyses, little work has attempted to intervene in these systems. In this article, we develop the foundation for a new body of research in our field focused on network interventions. Network interventions are defined as the purposeful use of network data to identify strategies for accelerating behavior change, improving performance, and producing desirable outcomes (Valente, 2012). We extend network intervention strategies from the field of public health to public sector inter-organizational and governance networks. Public sector actors have an interest in network interventions based on the fundamental pursuit of efficiency, effectiveness, and equity. Network interventions can increase the uptake of an organizational change among employees, improve the performance of a governance system, or promote the spread of a successful policy across jurisdictions. We provide scholars and practitioners with a useful way to conceptualize where, why, and how network interventions might be deployed in the pursuit of public value.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2109_08197
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Network Interventions: Applying Network Science for Pragmatic Action in Public Administration and Policy
Siciliano, Michael D.
Whetsell, Travis A.
Social and Information Networks
Public management and policy scholars have engaged in extensive development of theory and empirical study of networks and collaborative systems of governance. This scholarship has focused on understanding the mechanisms of network formation and the implications of network properties on individual and collective outcomes. Despite rich descriptive work and inferential analyses, little work has attempted to intervene in these systems. In this article, we develop the foundation for a new body of research in our field focused on network interventions. Network interventions are defined as the purposeful use of network data to identify strategies for accelerating behavior change, improving performance, and producing desirable outcomes (Valente, 2012). We extend network intervention strategies from the field of public health to public sector inter-organizational and governance networks. Public sector actors have an interest in network interventions based on the fundamental pursuit of efficiency, effectiveness, and equity. Network interventions can increase the uptake of an organizational change among employees, improve the performance of a governance system, or promote the spread of a successful policy across jurisdictions. We provide scholars and practitioners with a useful way to conceptualize where, why, and how network interventions might be deployed in the pursuit of public value.
title Network Interventions: Applying Network Science for Pragmatic Action in Public Administration and Policy
topic Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.08197