International Political Science Association Committee
Structure and Organisation of Government Research

Knowledge, Networks and Joined-Up Government

Conference hosted by the Centre for Public Policy, University of Melbourne, June 3 - 5, 2002

From the conference publication:

Introduction

Networks have become a central organising concept for social scientists in a variety of fields. They describe a unique form of social space not captured by previous notions of structure, process or action. In political science the use of this concept dates back to two different research projects. Early interest group theories sought to explain the interactions of such groups as unions, employers and governmental agencies and found that patterns of negotiation and mediation could not be adequately defined by formal structures. Networks became a category to describe the combination of formal and informal negotiation. A parallel development occurred in organisational analysis, including branches of public administration, where such interactions were also seen to contradict more formal models such as those of the market or bureaucratic type. Networks also capture an important part of the emerging world of digital communication, although these technological applications of network theory have not been so well aligned with these new political and social theorisations. 

In response to growing interest in these issues the Structure of Government Research Committee of The International Political Science Association held an international conference on ‘Knowledge, Networks and Joined-Up Government’ at the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne, Australia, on June 3rd, 4th and 5th, 2002.

This collection of papers from that conference includes those that were presented, discussed, and then independently reviewed by an expert panel. This review process conformed with the Department of Education, Science and Training (Australia) guidelines for refereed research publications.

The conference organisers wish to thank the IPSA Research Committee Executive for its support, the Institute for Public Administration Australia for financial assistance, and the Department of Premier and Cabinet (Victoria) and Brotherhood of St Laurence for their participation. Thanks also to Lauren Rosewarne for her role in helping organise the conference and for editorial assistance with these conference proceedings.

Mark Considine
Editor

Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne, Australia has made the papers from that conference available on their homepage. This collection includes those that were presented, discussed, and then independently reviewed by an expert panel.

You can read the conference report and all the papers form the conference on this link!