Identification of Advocacy Coalitions Using Measures of Network Segregation

• In Event: Coalitional Politics in Policy Reform Processes

Abstract

According to the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), participants in the policy process tend to form networks with others that share their core policy beliefs. This process, known as “belief homophily,” creates policy systems characterized by network segregation—meaning that there is a high correspondence between network ties and attribute similarity. Because of this, the measurement of network segregation has enormous potential for the identification of advocacy coalitions within the ACF. At the same time, the concept of network segregation is not frequently used in empirical work on policy networks. This paper presents an overview of the concept of network segregation, including several methodological innovations that allow it to be applied to the case of valued network ties and multidimensional attributes, both of which are necessary for a meaningful application of network segregation to ACF research. These applications are illustrated in a variety of policy process datasets, including climate change adaptation in Southeast Florida, U.S. environmental risk policy, and invasive species management in Arizona. Overall this research provides a methodological infrastructure that is hoped to enable a more effective identification of advocacy coalitions, as well as a characterization of the strength of coalition structures relative to what might be expected if coalitions are not structured through shared beliefs as expected by the ACF.

Author

• Adam Douglas Henry, University of Arizona
  Presenting Author