Theorizing Multilevel Closure Structures Guiding Forum Participation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fried, Harrison; Hamilton, Matthew; Berardo, Ramiro
• 署名单位: University System of Ohio; Ohio State University; University System of Ohio; Ohio State University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH AND THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1053-1858
• DOI: 10.1093/jopart/muac042
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 633-646
• 关键词: collaborative governance; policy networks; stakeholder participation; decision-making; social networks; ecology; performance; adaptation; games; sustainability

摘要

Understanding how stakeholders choose to participate in different policy forums is central to research on complex, polycentric governance systems. In this article, we draw upon the Ecology of Games Theory (EGT) to develop theoretical expectations about how four incentive structures may guide how actors navigate the world of policy forums. We test these expectations using unique data on a three-mode network of actors, forums, and issues related to climate change adaption in the state of Ohio, in the US Midwest. Results of an exponential random graph model suggest that multilevel closure structures, which are a function of transaction costs and direct benefits, guide actors' forum participation in ways that can either reinforce sub-optimal, ineffective governance arrangements, or conversely, encourage opportunities for innovation, increase diversity in representation, and facilitate policy learning. From a methodological standpoint, our research highlights the benefits of examining complex governance systems through the more precise approach allowed by three-mode network analysis, which has not been frequently used in research on polycentric governance systems up to this point.