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Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- List of boxes -- Preface -- 1 Governance networks in the public sector: an introduction -- PART I Governance networks -- PART II Network management -- PART III Normative issues in governance networks -- PART IV Synthesis and reflection -- References -- Index -- 2 An intellectual history of networks -- 3 Substantive complexity in governance networks: multiple perceptions and contested knowledge -- 4 Strategic complexity in governance networks: strategies, games, rounds, and arenas

Despite the importance of the media and the considerable literature on media logic and the mediatisation of politicians, there is very little research on effects of – as conceptualised here – commercialised media attention on network performance. To address this lacuna, the article draws on a survey of project managers involved in complex spatial projects in the four largest cities in The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague) and managers from two consultancy firms involved in similar projects (n=141). Quantitative analysis shows that perception of commercialised media attention has negative effects on network performance but that these effects are reduced considerably by network management activities.

This article examines the re‐emergence of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in the Netherlands since the 1980s, summarising the policy discussions that have taken place, and analysing the projects that have been implemented or planned. Several policy conclusions are drawn from the Dutch experience with PPPs.

One of the issues of the network approach to policy concerns the influence of the network structure on the policy processes that are taking place within it. A central point is the concept of rules. The basic assumption is that actors in networks form communal rules during their interactions. This article shows the way in which these network rules influence policy processes. First, the rules of two local social housing networks are reconstructed. The author then shows how these rules differ (e.g., rules of conflict regulation and autonomy) between the two networks and how they influenced the decision making surrounding the rehabilitation and restructuring of postwar housing districts that took place within these networks. He looks at the extent to which these differences in the rule structures of the networks explain the differences in the development of the decision-making processes. The article concludes with a discussion of rules as a context for decision making.

In the last 10 years, policy networks have become a popular concept to analyze policy making in muli-actor settings. This article argues that although stimulating and interesting, the research that has been done in this field can be improved in three ways. The first way to improve the usefulness of the concept network is to pay more attention to the dynamics of policy making. In this article, the concept game is used to conceptualize this dynamic character of policy processes. Second, the concept network stresses the context of policy making, buta coherent theoretical framework on how this coextisformed and changed is lacking. This article attempts to make some steps toward such a theoretical framework.Central in this framework is the idea of the duality of structure proposed by Giddens and the notion of rules. Finally, the literature on networks could gain relevance by directing more systematic attention on how complex policy processes in these networks can be managed Building on earlier work, especially in interorganization theory some management strategies are discussed.