This book examines almost two decades of research using the structural or network approach to political behaviour. Network analysis begins with the assumption that the most important elements of political power are the relationships of influence and domination among social actors. Influence is exchange of information about preferences and intentions; domination is the exchange of material sanctions to reward or punish compliance with commands. By examining the confluence of these two networks, analysts can develop a structural picture of the political process.
The United States, Germany, and Japan - the world's three most powerful and successful free market societies - differ strikingly in how their governments relate to their economies. Comparing Policy Networks reports the results of collaborative research by three teams investigating the social organization and policymaking processes of national labor policy domains in the United States, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s. The researchers gathered information about policy goals, communication patterns, and political support connections from 350 key national organizations, including labor unions, business associations, public interest groups, government agencies, and political parties. These networks reveal similar conflict divisions between business and labor interests, but also distinctive patterns within each nation. Unique combinations of informal policy-making networks and the national political institutions may in part explain the differences in power structures and legislative deci
This book examines almost two decades of research using the structural or network approach to political behaviour. Network analysis begins with the assumption that the most important elements of political power are the relationships of influence and domination among social actors. Influence is exchange of information about preferences and intentions; domination is the exchange of material sanctions to reward or punish compliance with commands. By examining the confluence of these two networks, analysts can develop a structural picture of the political process.
Research on social networks has become a significant area of investigation in the social sciences, and social network concepts and tools are widely employed across many subfields within the field. This volume introduces political theorists and researchers to new theoretical, methodological, and substantive tools for extending political network research into new realms and revitalizing established domains. The authors synthesize new understandings of multimodal political networks, consisting of two or more types of social entities - voters, politicians, parties, events, organizations, nations - and the complex relations between them. They discuss ways to theorize about multimodal connections, methods for measuring and analyzing multimodal datasets, and how the results can reveal new insights into political structures and action. Several empirical applications demonstrate in great detail how multimodal analysts can detect and visualize political communities consisting of diverse social e
Research on social networks has become a significant area of investigation in the social sciences, and social network concepts and tools are widely employed across many subfields within the field. This volume introduces political theorists and researchers to new theoretical, methodological, and substantive tools for extending political network research into new realms and revitalizing established domains. The authors synthesize new understandings of multimodal political networks, consisting of two or more types of social entities - voters, politicians, parties, events, organizations, nations - and the complex relations between them. They discuss ways to theorize about multimodal connections, methods for measuring and analyzing multimodal datasets, and how the results can reveal new insights into political structures and action. Several empirical applications demonstrate in great detail how multimodal analysts can detect and visualize political communities consisting of diverse social e
The Federal Government in the United States is a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Presidents are elected by popular vote in the nation (filtered through the electoral
Discusses the innovative log-linear model of statistical analysis. This model makes no distinction between independent and dependent variables, but is used to examine relationships among categoric var
Part of a series that considers the theoretical, methodological and research issues relevant to organizational sociology, this work focuses on networks in and around organizations is. It emphasizes mi
Change at Work explores the theme that employees have paid the price for the widespread restructuring of American firms as illustrated by reduced security, greater effort and hours, and reduced morale
