The Collaborative Governance Networks Literature: A .

The Collaborative GovernanceNetworks Literature:A Thematic AnalysisGöktuğ Morçöl, Eunsil Yoo, & Shahinshah Faisal AzimPenn State HarrisburgPresentation at the American Society for Public Administration ConferenceWashington, DCMarch 2019

Questions We Asked What has been the general trend in publications about collaborative governancenetworks? What were the most popular areas in the collaborative governance networksapplications? What were the leading countries in collaborative governance networks applications? Which journals published papers on collaborative networks? Which theories, if any, did the collaborative governance network researchers used? What were the general methodologies and analytical methods used by researchers?

Data Collection Source and Method We present the preliminary findings of our content analyses of the scholarly articles on“collaborative governance networks” (CGN). We collected articles from ProQuest. In our searches, we used the following keywords: Collaborative governance Collaborative network Governance network Network governance Collaborative public management Collaborative public administration

Data Collection and Source for Analyses Our searches yielded: 1532 scholarly articles published in English, between 1977 and 2017. We found other sources (books, dissertations, government publication, newspaperarticles, etc.) too, but we excluded them from our analyses. Of the 1532 articles, we have read/analyzed 644 so far. Of the 644, we found 619 relevant to be included in our analyses. The remaining 25 articles either did not include sufficient information or they weremisidentified (e.g., they were initially selected because they included the names ofprofessional networks) We read and coded the titles and abstracts of the papers and the journals they werepublished in. The following analyses are the results of our analyses of these fields in thespreadsheet.

General Trend in Publications on CGN200180160140Count120100806040200year CGN publications increased significantly in the 21st century.

Most Popular Areas of CGN Applications: Local Gov/Urban/CommunityWater resourcesPublic Adm/Public Policy/Pol Science ural Resources/Common Pool onLibrariesSocial/Human ServicesAuthor/Research NetworksEmergency/Disaster ManagementEurope/European UnionE-government/Social MediaTotalUnidentifiedTotal 0

Most Popular Areas in the 20th and 21st Centuries1977 - .72.Health488.43.Author/Research networks36.33.Local Gov/Urban376.54.Business/Financial510.44.Water resources356.15.Water ech24.26.Pub Adm/Pub Pol/ Pol Sci general305.37.IT/Telecom12.17.IT/Telecom2348.Local 12.110. Democracy/Participation162.810. Organizations (general)Natural res/Common pool/Fisheries

Evolution of the Top-5 Areas in the 20th Century

Geographical Distribution of Publications (Countries inwhich Studies were Conducted) Total number of countries: 43Top Countries Since aS. Korea

Geographical Distribution of Publications by DecadeUS has been the leader sincethe 1990s.US has been followed by UK,Canada, and Australia.The Netherlands, China, SouthKorea, and Brazil joined thetop group and increasedtheir percentages in the 21stcentury.

Journals that Publish CGN Papers (1977-2017) Total number of journals: 452 (619 papers) The publications seem to be dispersed among journals. But there is some concentration in a few journals. The top three journals (PAR, JPART, ARPA)are the public administration journalswith the highest impact factorsin recent years.Journals that Published 4 or More PapersFrequencyPercentPublic Administration ReviewJournal of Public Administration Research andTheoryAmerican Review of Public AdministrationEcology and Society20123.21.91181.71.3Public AdministrationInternational Journal of Public AdministrationPublic Organization ReviewAdministrative Theory & PraxisEnvironmental ManagementEnvironmental Science & PolicyInternational Review of Public AdministrationNational Civic ReviewPolicy studiesPublic Management ReviewPublic ManagerUrban 0.6

Top Publishers of CGN Papers by Decade1977 – 20172000 - 2017 Library science and organization journals were theprimary outlets in the 20th century. Public administration and ecology journals tookthe lead in the 21st century.

Theory in the CGN LiteratureIs the CGN literature atheoretical? Papers in the 1970s and 1980s were atheoretical. Researchers began to use theories in the 1990s. Even then only 20-25% of the papers used some theory.DecadeNo theoryIs there atheoryTheoryTotalCount% withinDecadeCount% withinDecadeCount% %100.0%100.0%100.0%

Theory in the CGN LiteratureFrequencyCollaborative governanceGovernance networks/Network governanceDemocratic decision making/ParticipationComplexity/Complex governance/Complex systemsLeadershipInstitutional/Neo-institutional theorySocial capitalTransaction-cost economicsConstructionism/Social constructionismInstitutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework(Ostrom)Social-ecological systems (SES) framework (Ostrom)Diffusion of innovationsNeoliberalismActor network theoryRegime theoryEthical theoryEvolutionary theory/Path dependenceGame theoryLiberation psychologyTotalLarger total of those that used theoryTotal Number of Articles in Study231511744333332111111188135619Percent ofTotalNumber .20.20.20.20.20.214.2100.0 We defined “theory” broadly: conceptualframeworks and well-developed theories. Even then, we could identify 88 articles (ourof 619) that used some theory. The most frequently used theories areactually conceptual frameworks: Collaborative governance Governance networks Democratic decisionmaking/participation Complexity/complex systems

General Methodological Approach by DecadeCase studyConceptual discussionLiterature reviewInterviewsCase study (Comparative)SurveyMixed MethodsModel ysisGrounded TheoryEthnographyFocus GroupsAction ResearchQualitative (Unspecified)Best practicesGame TheoryPanel %0.3%0.3%0.2%0.2%7.4%44.3%100.0% Case studies have been the most prominentmethodological approach. Literature reviews declined over time. Conceptual discussions became more prevent inrecent decades.

Analytical Methods Used by ResearchersMethodSocial Network AnalysisFrequency10Percent1.6Regression Analyses71.1Content Analysis71.1Agent-Based Simulations50.8Narrative Analysis40.6Factor/Principal Components Analysis10.2Survival Analysis/Hazard Model10.2Cluster Analysis10.2Mapping/GIS10.2None Specified58294.0Total619100.0 Very few paper abstracts specified their analyticalmethods. SNA, regression, content analysis, and agentbased simulations are the most prominentanalytical methods.

Summary of Findings CGN publications increased significantly in the 21st century. The most popular areas of CGN applications are environment/ecology, healthcaremanagement/policy, local government/urban studies, and water resources management. The leading countries in CGN applicationsare the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia.st Others joined them in the 21 century. CGN papers have been published mainly in the leading public administration and ecologyjournals. Only 20-25% of CGN papers used any kind of theory. Most of these are actually conceptual frameworks. The largest numbers of papers are single and comparative case studies and conceptualdiscussions. Very few papers used analytical methods. The most frequently applied methods are social network analysis, regression analyses, andcontent analyses.

Thank you.Comments? Questions?

Theory in the CGN Literature We defined “theory” broadly: conceptual frameworks and well-developed theories. Even then, we could identify 88 articles (our of 619) that used some theory. The most frequently used theories are actually conceptual frameworks : Collaborative governance Governance networks Democratic decision-