Analysing networks: from typologies of institutions to narratives of beliefs

No abstract
In an 1992 article, Rod Rhodes and David Marsh reviewed the existing British and other European literature on policy networks. Since then, there has been a massive outpouring of material and a vigorous debate. This paper updates the story by asking ‘where are we now’ and ‘where are we going’? In the next (second) section of the article the authors summarise current approaches to the study of networks and the attendant debate. In the third section they argue that these approaches are characterised by: the assumption that networks are given facts from which you can read off individual beliefs and actions; a focus on routines, not change; a tendency to build elaborate typologies; and an emphasis on managing networks. In the fourth section, the authors propose an alternative approach rooted in an anti-foundational epistemology. They suggest the notions of tradition and narrative should be central to understanding networks.