Effective Policy Making in a Multi-Actor Setting: Networks and Steering

There has been a growing tendency in policy science to incorporate parts of the policy environment in theories on policy making (Snellen, 1987). Studies on implementation have shown that the government when implementing its policy must take into account the reactions of several organizations in the policy field, organizations which each have their own aims and goals. An analyst starting from this multi-actor point of view, must analyze decision making as ‘joint action’ (Pressman and Wildavsky, 1983). In this method of analysis the complexity of joint action is accepted. A priori mutual adjustment and consensus building thus become new areas for research. Government is not a monolithic entity. Joint policy making calls for different conceptual approaches to analyze the policy process other than the ‘one-actor-approach’. The configuration theory can be seen as one of the theories that fit in this multi-actor approach to public policy. It is, however, not the only one. In policy science the network approach to the analysis of policy decisions has gained many followers in the last ten years. In this article we will introduce the network perspective on public policy and elaborate on the consequences of this perspective for analysis, evaluation and improvement of public policy. We will also contrast these views with some of the views from the configuration perspective. Three questions will be dealt with: What are the main features of the network perspective?How can this perspective be used to analyze policy processes and their outcomes?What are some similarities and dissimilarities between the network perspective and the cofiguration theory?