Exploring Knowledge Networks and Policy Change in a U.S. Marine Fishery Management Council

• In Event: Coming Full Circle: Design, Deliberation, Decision, and Delivery of Collaborative Policymaking

Abstract

Collaborative governance scholars have a long-standing interest in learning, and specifically the role of individual and collective learning as inputs and outcomes of collaboration. Heikkila and Gerlak’s (2013) collective learning framework identifies three important processes for collective learning: knowledge acquisition, translation, and dissemination. However, little attention has been given to understanding the differences and connections among these three learning processes – knowledge acquisition, translation, and dissemination – and how they relate to policy change. Therefore, this paper asks three questions: (1) who is engaged in the knowledge exchange? (2) what type(s) of knowledge are most frequently exchanged? (3) how does knowledge exchange relate to policy change?This paper uses the case of the U.S. South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to understand knowledge exchange during the collaborative policymaking process. The first source of data is meeting transcripts that capture deliberations on 39 policy issues from 2008 to 2013. Three types of knowledge exchange activities (e.g., requests, translations, and transmissions) and two-way communication were identified through manual coding of the meeting transcripts. The second source of data is policy documents that provide the content of each policy issue and associated policy options, including documentation of approved policy options. Qualitative Comparative Analysis was conducted to determine how two-way knowledge exchange links to policy change.This paper finds that (1) policymakers engage more frequently with other policymakers than with external stakeholders (e.g., scientists or consultants) in knowledge exchange; (2) practical knowledge is the most prevalent type of knowledge being exchanged in the collaborative policymaking process; (3) when stakeholders acquire knowledge through transmission more than translation, it is associated with a greater likelihood of policy change. This paper contributes to the policy learning literature by (1) measuring the three learning processes proposed in the collective learning framework (Heikkila & Gerlak, 2013) – knowledge request, translation, and transmission; (2) providing evidence on who is engaged in the knowledge exchange activities; and (3) comparing how knowledge exchange networks are associated with policy change.

Author

• Shuping Wang, University of Illinois, Chicago
  Presenting Author