This book seeks to renew and refocus the debate on the use of governance networks in public policy making. It raises and answers a series of questions about the dynamics, conditions and functions of governance networks and also considers the democratic implications of network governance.

'A comprehensive and accessible study of the latest thinking on network governance. A great collection of authors bring into focus the challenge of how we are governing ourselves in today's complex societies. The book provides an excellent account of where we have got to in the study of network governance and some very good hints about where we might go in the future.' - Gerry Stoker, Professor of Governance and Politics, University of Southampton, UK

'A significant contribution to the governance literature. Networks are often seen as the chief manifestation of new forms of governance and this volume discusses in detail the virtues and perils, the prospects and problems with governance by networks. Given the breadth of the volume and the quality of analysis it offers, this book is an inevitable reading for students and scholars interested in governance.' - Jon Pierre, Professor of Public Administration, Gothenburg University, Sweden

'...this is a highly useful book.As well as providing a cogent theoretical platform of its own from which to launch a new generation of research in this area it should also be of interest to a broader number of readers than its narrow subject title might suggest.' - David Moon, University of Sheffield, Political Studies Review

Autorentext
MARK BEVIR Professor, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA TANJA A. BÖRZEL Chair of European Integration, Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science, Centre for European Integration, Free University of Berlin, Germany ALLAN DREYER HANSEN Associate Professor, Department of Social Science, Roskilde University, Denmark JOHN S. DRYZEK Professor of Social and Political Theory, Australian National University, Australia JULIAN EDELENBOS Research Fellow, Department of Public Administration, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands ANDERS ESMARK Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Roskilde University, Denmark NILS HERTTING Researcher, Institute for Housing and Urban Research, University of Uppsala, Sweden ERIK-HANS KLIJN Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands JOOP F.M. KOPPENJAN Associate Professor, The Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, The Delft Universityof Technology, The Netherlands LAURENCE J. O'TOOLE, JR. Professor of Public Administration, Department of Public Administration & International Affairs, The University of Georgia, Athens, USA DIANA PANKE PhD Student, Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science, Centre for European Integration, Free University of Berlin, Germany B. GUY PETERS Maurice Falk Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, USA R. A. W. RHODES Professor, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia LINZE SCHAAP Leader of Centre for Local Democracy, The Faculty of Social Science, Erasmus University, The Netherlands PETER TRIANTAFILLOU Assistant Professor, Department of Social Science, Roskilde University, Denmark.

Inhalt
Introduction; E.Sørensen & J.Torfing Theoretical Approaches to Governance Network Dynamics; E.Sørensen & J.Torfing Mechanisms of Governance Network Formation: A Contextual Rational Choice Perspective; N.Hertting Virtuous and Viscous Circles in Democratic Network Governance; B.G.Peters Decentred Theory, Change and Network Governance; M.Bevir & R.A.W.Rhodes Theoretical Approaches to Governance Network Failure; E.Sørensen & J.Torfing Closure and Governance; L.Schaap Consensus and Conflict in Policy Networks: Too Much or Too Little?; J.F.M.Koppenjan Network Governance: Effective and Legitimate?; T.A.Börzel & D.Panke Theoretical Approaches to Metagovernance; E.Sørensen & J.Torfing Governing the Formation and Mobilization of Governance Networks; P.Triantafillou Meta-governance as Network Management; E-H.Klijn & J.Edelenbos Governing Outputs and Outcomes of Governance Networks; L.J.O'Toole, Jr. Theoretical Approaches to Democratic Network Governance; E.Sørensen & J.Torfing Governance Networksand Participation; A.D.Hansen Networks and Democratic Ideals: Equality, Freedom and Communication; J.S.Dryzek Democratic Accountability and Network Governance: Problems and Potentials; A.Esmark