Lecture 6: a public administrative persepective

Question 1

networks as a governance problem

Answer 1

time-space compression: everything happen once and everywhere (Harvey)

global network society therefore, interaction between people, companies, etc. is no longer dependent on ‘place’, we shift from a space of place to a space flows (Castells)

governance and regulation are bound to a space of place, but networks of the info age exist in the space of flows –> states loose regulatory power and become part of a system of multi-actor and multi-level governance

society is no longer a unified system, but a network of loosely connected cells with spontaneous interaction processes and limited interaction outside of these

Question 2

Castells main concept: the global network society

Answer 2

• new info technologies create possibilities for new forms of social organisation along info networks, no longer along systems of products and energy
• interaction is instantaneous
• and not bound to place

Question 3

so how are networks exactly a governance problem?

Answer 3

actors group and re-group themselves in networks

1. therefore they create exclusion between participants and others
2. while re-grouping, they may distance themselves from regulation
   - networks create new problems and they complicate the response

Question 4

3 forms on how to governance

Answer 4

1. participant governed: depend on involvement of all members, decentralised collective self-governance
2. lead organisation-governed: depends on involvement of lead member, centralised governance
3. network administrative organisation: network facilitation

Question 5

How will which type of network governance work?

Answer 5

if there’s trust & goal consensus: shared governance is possible

if low trust & goal consensus: lead governance is required

network administrative organisation is suitable if network level competencies are required

Question 6

so conclusion: is network (administrative organization) governance a response to networks as a governance problem?

Answer 6

only if there is mutual trust, strong lead organisation and recognised need for joint administration then network governance might be effective