Network Governance and the Differentiated Polity: Selected Essays, Volume I

292 Pages·2017·1.35 MB·English

by  R.A.W. Rhodes

NETWORK GOVERNANCE
AND THE DIFFERENTIATED POLITY

Network Governance
and the Differentiated
Polity
Selected Essays, Volume I
R. A. W. RHODES
1
3
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Preface
This collection of essays is in two volumes. Volume I is a retrospective. It
collects in one place for the first time the main articles I wrote on policy
networks and governance between 1990 and 2005. The introductory section
provides a short biography of my intellectual journey. Part I focuses on
policy networks. Part II focuses on governance. The conclusion provides
thecriticalcommentary,bothreplyingtomycriticsandreflectingontheor-
etical developments since publication. With the exceptions of Chapters 6, 7,
and 10, none of these articles and chapters appeared in my other books.
Chapter5 has not been published before in English and Chapter12 has not
been published before. The volume complements my other publications on
networks and governance. In effect, it updates my Understanding Govern-
ance,whichwaspublishedtwentyyearsago.Finally,wherenecessary,Ihave
written an afterword to a chapter setting out the context in which it was
written, and identifying what has changed empirically. I have reserved my
discussion of both thecontinuingrelevanceof myargumentandthe perspi-
cacity of my critics to Chapter12.
Volume II is prospective in that it looks forward and explores the
‘interpretive turn’ and its implications for the craft of political science,
especially public administration. It draws together articles from 2005
onwards on the theme of ‘the interpretive turn’ in political science. In Part
I, I provide a summary statement of the interpretive approach. It provides
the context for what follows. Part II develops the theme of blurring genres
and discusses a variety of research methods common in the humanities,
including: ethnographic fieldwork, life history, and focus groups. Part III
shows how the genres of thought and presentation found in the humanities
can be used in political science. It presents four examples of such blurring
‘at work’ with studies of: applied anthropology and civil service reform;
women’s studies and government departments; and storytelling and local
knowledge; and area studies and comparing Westminster governments. The
book concludes with a summary of what is edifying about an interpretive
approach,andwhythisapproachmatters.Irevisitsomeofthemorecommon
criticisms before indulging in plausible conjectures about the future of
interpretivism.
Volume II differs from my work with Mark Bevir in two significant ways.
First, it is not a book about interpretive theory. Briefly, I summarize the
theoretical case for interpretivism but my main concern is to make the case
for the approach by showing how it refreshes old topics and opens new
empirical topics. I seek new and interesting ways to explore governance,
vi Preface
highpolitics,publicpolicies,andthestudyofpublicadministrationingeneral.
So, my emphasis falls on methods, and providing several examples of the
approach‘atwork’.
Second,withtheexceptionofVolumeII,Chapter2,noneofthearticleswas
co-written with Mark Bevir, although I acknowledge freely his influence
throughout Volume II. These essays complement but do not duplicate our
joint publications. Noneofthesearticlesisinanyofmysingleorco-authored
books,andChapters1and12havenotbeenpublishedbefore.VolumeIIdraws
togetherinoneplaceforthefirsttimemyrecentworkapplyinginterpretivism
topoliticalscience,especiallypublicadministration.
As the articles and chapters in Volume II are recent, I have not written
an afterword updating each chapter. Rather, I gather my reflections on the
chapters,withrepliestomycritics,inChapter12.
ForVolumeI,Ihavenotchangedtheargumentsinanychapter.However,
Ihavecorrectedfactualmistakesandupdated,standardized,andconsolidated
thereferences.IamafraidIcouldnotresisttinkeringwithmyprose.Overthe
years, I have acquired a growing aversion to the ‘hanging this’ and to long
sentences. I have pandered to both aversions. Inevitably with articles and
chapters written over 30 years, there is some duplication and overlap. At the
time, I could not assume that readers were familiar with earlier work. I have
eliminatedmostofthe‘catch-up’passagesinmypreviouswork.ForVolume
II, because all the chapters are linked by the twin themes of ‘blurring genres’
and ‘the interpretive turn’, I gave myself license to revise thoroughly and
rewritetoensureinternalandthematicconsistency.
When writing, I do so to music, mainly folk, jazz, and rock. It is the ever-
present backcloth to my working life. Occasionally, I succumb to the conceit
that in another life I was in a rock band, playing air guitar of course. The
articlesarethesingles.ThebooksaretheCDs.Thesetwovolumesandedited
collectionsarecompilationCDs.Thelecturetoursarethegigs.Thehotelsare
the motels of rock’s road songs. Song titles and phrases seep into my con-
sciousness and onto the printed page. You will find echoes of Bob Dylan,
JethroTull,Prince,andmanymorethroughoutthesepages.Ienjoylistening
tothem,andnowtheyarepartofthebackdroptoyourreading.
Acknowledgements
VolumeI,Chapter4waswrittenwithIanBacheandStephenGeorge.Ithank
themfortheirgenerosityinallowingmetoincludethepaperinthiscollection.
Many colleagues have given me the benefit of their comments and advice
overtheyearsandthefollowinglistisaninadequatewayofacknowledgingmy
debtsandsayingthankyou.
ClaireAnnesley(UniversityofSussex)
ChrisAnsell(UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,USA)
IanBache(UniversityofSheffield)
MarkBevir(UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,USA)
KarenBoll(CopenhagenBusinessSchool,Denmark)
JohnBoswell(UniversityofSouthampton)
GeorgeBoyne(UniversityofCardiff)
JudithBrett(LaTrobeUniversity,Melbourne,Australia)
DominicByatt(OxfordUniversityPress)
NeilCarter(UniversityofYork)
LouiseChappell(UniversityofNewSouthWales,Sydney,Australia)
JackCorbett(UniversityofSouthampton)
CharlotteSausman(néeDargie)(UniversityofCambridge)
CarstenDaugbjerg(AustralianNationalUniversity,Canberra,Australia)
PatrickDunleavy(LSE)
ThelateAndrewDunsire(UniversityofYork)
JennyFleming(UniversityofSouthampton)
FrancescaGains(UniversityofManchester)
AndrewGamble(Emeritus,UniversityofCambridge)
StephenGeorge(UniversityofSheffield)
MichaelGoldsmith(formerlyUniversityofSalford)
BobGoodin(AustralianNationalUniversity,Canberra,Australia)
BrianHardy(formerlyNuffieldInstituteforHealth,UniversityofLeeds)
RichardHarrington(ManchesterStatisticalSociety)
CarolynHendriks(AustralianNationalUniversity,Canberra,Australia)
SusanHodgett(UniversityofUlster)
LiesbetHooghe(UniversityofNorthCarolina,ChapelHill,USA)
IngiIusmen(UniversityofSouthampton)
LotteJensen(CopenhagenBusinessSchool,Denmark)
BobJessop(LancasterUniversity)
ThelateGeorgeJones(LSE)
JosieKelly(AstonBusinessSchool)
ThelateAdrianLeftwich(UniversityofYork)
viii Acknowledgements
DavidLevi-Faur(HebrewUniversityofJerusalem)
RodneyLowe(UniversityofBristol)
FionaMacKay(UniversityofEdinburgh)
DavidMarsh(UniversityofCanberra,Australia)
JaniceMcMillan(EdinburghNapierUniversity)
MickMoran(ManchesterBusinessSchool)
MirkoNoordegraaf(UniversiteitUtrecht,TheNetherlands)
JohanOlsen(ARENACentreforEuropeanStudies,Oslo,Norway)
ThelateNelsonPolsby(UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,USA)
AlisonProctor(AustralianNationalUniversity,Canberra,Australia)
DavidRichards(UniversityofLiverpool)
EllaRitchie(UniversityofNewcastle)
ThelateJimSharpe(NuffieldCollege,Oxford)
MartinSmith(UniversityofYork)
JohnStewart(FormerlyINLOGOV,UniversityofBirmingham)
RichardJ.StillmanII(UniversityofColoradoatDenver)
GerryStoker(UniversityofCanberra,Australia)
Paul‘tHart(UniversiteitUtrecht,TheNetherlands)
AnneTiernan(GriffithUniversity,Brisbane,Australia)
NickTurnbull(UniversityofManchester)
JamesWalter(UniversityofMonash,Melbourne,Australia)
JohnWanna(AustralianNationalUniversity,Canberra,Australia)
GeorginaWaylen(UniversityofManchester)
PatrickWeller(GriffithUniversity,Brisbane,Australia)
DavidWilson(DeMontfortUniversity)
ThelateVincentWright(NuffieldCollege,Oxford)
TamykoYsa(ESADE,UniversitatRamonLlull,Barcelona,Spain)
Manyinstitutionshavehelpedovertheyears—toomanytothank—butImust
singleouttheInstituteofPublicAdministrationAustralia(IPAA)anditsstate
divisions for repeat invitations to speak, hospitality, questions, and unfailing
goodhumour.IhopetheyenjoyedmyvisitsasmuchasIdid.
I am grateful to the following publishers for their permission to reprint in
wholeorinpartthefollowingarticlesandbookchapters.
Oxford University Press for: ‘Policy Network Analysis’. In M. Moran,
M. Rein and R. E. Goodin (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy.
Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2006:423–45;‘PolicyNetworksandPolicy
Making in the European Union: A Critical Appraisal’. In L. Hooghe (ed.),
Cohesion Policy and European Integration. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996:
367–87;‘WhatisGovernanceandWhyDoesItMatter?’InJ.E.S.Hayward
and Anand Menon (eds), Governing Europe. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2003: 61–73; and ‘Waves of Governance’. In David Levi-Faur (ed.),
The Oxford Handbook of Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2012,33–48.
Acknowledgements ix
PalgraveMacmillanfor:‘FromPrimeMinisterialPowertoCoreExecutive’.
In R. A. W. Rhodes and P. Dunleavy (eds), Prime Minister, Cabinet and
CoreExecutive.London:Macmillan,1995:11–37.
Sage for: ‘Policy Networks: A British Perspective’, Journal of Theoretical
Politics, 2, 1990: 292–316; ‘Bureaucracy, Contracts and Networks: The
Unholy Trinity and the Police’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of
Criminology,38,2005:192–205;‘TheNewGovernance:Governingwithout
Government’, Political Studies, 44, 1996: 652–67; and ‘Understanding
Governance:TenYearsOn’,OrganizationStudies,28(8),2007:1243–64.
Ant. N. Sakkoulas, Athens, Greece for: ‘Analysing Networks: From
Typologies of Institutions to Narratives of Beliefs’, Science and Society,
No.10,Spring2003:21–56.
Taylor & Francis/Routledge for: ‘Putting the People Back into Networks’,
AustralianJournalofPoliticalScience,37(3),2002:399–415.
John Wiley for: ‘From Marketization to Diplomacy: It’s the Mix that
Matters’, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 56, 1997: 40–53;
‘The Hollowing Out of the State’, Political Quarterly, 65, 1994: 138–51;
‘Thinking On: I Was So Much Older Then’, Public Administration, 89,
2011:196–212.
There were too many conferences and workshops at which colleagues com-
mentedondraftsoftheseseveralpapers,anditisnotfeasibletolistthemall.
So, this general thank you must suffice. I should also thank the many an-
onymous referees. Iobeyed the ‘rulesof thegame’, even whenconvinced the
revised version was no improvement; for example, there is no advantage in
using the third person over the first person. It proliferates passive verbs in
pursuitofaspuriousdetachment.
I will not try to describe the stultifying claustrophobia of Bradford in the
1950s. In 1958, aged 14, I preferred Lonnie Donegan to Elvis Presley if only
because the latter was so exotic he seemed to be from another planet;
untouchable. At least Lonnie was one of us. Everybody knew someone in a
skiffle group. My mother, Irene Rhodes (née Clegg), loathed the confines of
theRhodes’extendedfamily,ofchapel,andofthenarrowhorizonsofatextile
town. She insisted I think beyond the confines of provincial Yorkshire,
knowing the journey would take me away from her. It was a precious and
stillvaluedgift.Thesetwovolumesarededicatedtohermemory.