Reconceptualizing the Policy Subsystem: Integration with Complexity Theory and Social Network Analysis

The concept of the policy subsystem is an essential building block for several of the basic frameworks of policy process studies. Over time issues have become more complex, crossing subsystem boundaries, and so subsystems have escalated in their complexity as well. It is increasingly insufficient to study just one policy subsystem and so scholars have turned to studying boundary‐spanning regimes or policy networks. In this essay, we review the major contributions to developing the concept of a policy subsystem and trace its evolution into broader conceptualizations like issue and policy networks. We argue that the future for theories of the policy process is in more explicit integration of complexity theory and more effective modeling of subsystems with the utilization of social network analysis. In closing, we discuss the enduring nature of the concept of policy subsystems and highlight studies that continue using it in innovative ways.     

Knidian “Anyports”: a model of coastal adaptation and socioeconomic connectivity from southwest Turkey

Recent archaeological studies reveal a growing interest in the relationship between local coastal dynamics and broader currents of Mediterranean seaborne connectivity. Using as a case study the complex harbour site of Burgaz and its maritime landscape of the Datça peninsula in southwest Turkey, this paper considers trajectories of port development in communities that are pre-modern and pre-industrial but increasingly interconnected and interdependent. While the peninsula’s fertile low-lying farmlands made Archaic and early Classical Burgaz an economic backbone and centre of regional exchange in the southeast Aegean, the growth of eastern Mediterranean networks of the late Classical and Hellenistic era eventually favoured Knidos as the better situated hub for maritime activity. Building on the influential “Anyport Model” by geographer James Bird (1963, 1971), this article explores patterns of coastal development at Burgaz as a reflection of local responses to intersecting political, economic and environmental factors. By contextualizing the long-term evolution of one dynamic landscape, the model aims to shed light on how ancient Mediterranean port communities negotiated a constantly shifting place within complex and evolving maritime networks.     

武陵山区公路交通优势度与县域经济水平协调度研究

武陵山区是我国典型的集中连片特困地区,研究其公路交通与经济社会的协调关系及其影响因素对深入认知我国贫困地区交通和经济的发展具有重要参考价值。本研究构建路网连通度、公路交通优势度、县域经济水平等指标体系,采用因子分析法和协调度评价模型等方法探究2000-2016年期间武陵山区公路交通优势度和县域经济水平的协调度演变及其影响因素。主要结论如下：①省道以上公路的路网结构得到优化,从可达性良好的状态发展为完善状态。②公路交通优势度相对较好的区域从北部、东部转移到中部,相对较差的区域从西部和南部转移到南北两端,县域经济水平由东部优于西部的格局演变为相对无序的格局,“天窗”县的公路交通优势度和县域经济水平均相对较好。③将协调度分为高度协调、中度协调、勉强协调、轻度失调、中度失调和严重失调6种类型,协调度未得到明显改善,大部分县属于不同程度的失调类型。④公路交通优势度与县域经济水平同向匹配程度不高、远离省会城市及地级城市带动能力弱、开发建设水平低以及少数民族自治县相对贫困落后等因素制约协调度的改善。     

李鸿章与晚清漕粮海运

晚清漕粮海运与李鸿章的关系密不可分.他通过恢复海运扩大漕粮海运的参与省份,调整海运规章、抚恤海运群体,扶植轮船招商局、促进漕粮运输工具近代化等方式,对漕粮海运的变革产生了全方位影响,成为推动中国社会走向近代的重要人物.     

Ideology,Power, and the Structure of Policy Networks

This article investigates the role of power and ideology in the endogenous formation of policy networks. According to the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), shared ideology (conceptualized as a system of policy‐relevant beliefs and values) is the primary driver of collaboration within policy subsystems. On the other hand, Resource Dependency Theory suggests that power‐seeking is an important rationale behind network structure, and that collaborative ties are formed primarily on the basis of perceived influence. Hypotheses are tested using a new method of egocentric network correlation, based on survey data of policy networks in five regional planning subsystems in California (N = 506). Results suggest that ideology is an important force behind network cohesion: Not only do policy elites systematically avoid networking with ideologically dissimilar actors but collaborative ties are also systematically formed among actors with shared beliefs. Power‐seeking does not operate on a network‐wide scale but may drive network formation among coalitions of ideologically similar agents.     

Specialization and social inequality in Bronze Age SE Arabia: analyzing the development of production strategies and economic networks using agent-based modeling

This paper investigates the role of specialized production strategies in the development of socio-economic inequalities in Bronze Age south-eastern (SE) Arabia, and particularly, the ways in which a localized, internal exchange economy may have produced stress and instability in the SE Arabian socio-economic system. While archaeological research has established that the communities of SE Arabia participated in a widespread Bronze Age exchange system that included areas of the ancient Near East, South Asia, and Central Asia, it is unclear to what degree this interaction fostered the broad-scale socio-economic changes seen in the Early Bronze Age of SE Arabia. Here we present the results of an agent-based model that suggest the nature of the internal exchange economy in SE Arabia itself may have precipitated the social conditions necessary for change by allowing individuals to profit disproportionately. We thus emphasize the importance of local production strategies in generating socio-economic change, in addition to the well-established economic and cultural contacts with the wider Bronze Age world.     

Transdisciplinary Enrichment of a Linear Research Process: Experiences Gathered from a Research Project Supporting the European Biodiversity Strategy to 2020

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of a research project conducted by a network of environmental research institutes called Partnership for European Environmental Research (PEER). Our analysis constitutes a reflection on this research project based on a proposed ideal-typical transdisciplinary research process developed by . The aim of the PRESS project (PEER Research on EcoSystem Services) was to provide support for the development and implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, with a special emphasis on the ecosystem services concept. Our analysis of the research phases of the PRESS project shows that not all of the project elements accord with the notion of a full-scale transdisciplinary process. Despite this, a number of lessons can be learned regarding the use of different boundary objects for knowledge integration and the various roles played by researchers. We also identify some constraints with regard to synchronizing policy and project cycles and consider the advantages and disadvantages of research network structures in facilitating long-term cooperation.     

Applying GIS tools to define prehistoric megalith transport route corridors: Olmec megalith transport routes: a case study

Applying spatial data management and analytical tools is an accepted method for investigating potential settlement patterns. This study applied Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to the study of Preclassic Olmec megalith transport in Mesoamerica. The GIS slope gradient tool was used to identify potential transport corridors with gradients of less that 1:10, which defines the limit of human effort needed to control these stones as demonstrated in ethnographic and replication experiments by various researchers. These outcomes were also used to refine transportation methods and likely start points that would be used to cross lowlands near to the San Lorenzo centre of Olmec society.     

侨批公会的建立与跨国侨批网络的制度化（1911—1937）——以潮汕为例的研究

本文以潮汕侨批业为个案研究,利用跨国主义理论,探讨了侨批网络的内部整合与制度化问题。认为侨批网络的制度化表现首先是侨批公会的建立,继而是侨批公会网络的形成,侨批公会网络再通过其制度化机制进入以中华总商会为中心的更高层次的华人社团网络。侨批网络的扩大加强了其对外的集体交涉能力,从而维护了侨批网络的正常运转。在此运作模式中,新加坡中华总商会起着领导核心的作用。侨批网络的运作模式对研究跨国华人商业网络有重要的启示意义。     

海外华人产业集群形成机理分析——以佛罗伦萨温商皮具产业集群为例

论文以意大利佛罗伦萨温州商人皮具产业集群为例,从社会网络发展的视角,介绍了佛罗伦萨华人皮具产业集群的概况;阐述了佛罗伦萨温州商人社会网络的形成与发展对当地产业集群形成的作用,探讨了海外华人产业集群的形成机理。研究发现,佛罗伦萨温州商人社会网络不仅培育了新的产业进入者,而且帮助他们迅速进入该集群,从而保持了该集群的旺盛生命力。随着产业集群的成熟,佛罗伦萨温州商人社会网络继续壮大,成为了产业集群内网络组织部分的核心。然而,影响产业集群形成和发展的外在因素甚多,还包括区域位置、历史因素、政策导向等等,因此,关于海外华人产业集群的研究还有待进一步深入探索。