Policy Networks Across Political Systems

Polities shape power structures and interaction patterns between actors in policymaking processes. Although the social fabric of interactions is key to successful policymaking, it remains unclear which relational are typically found across political systems. By adopting a network approach, we analyse differences four policy networks German Swiss consensual–federal, French majoritarian–unitary, hybrid Dutch consensual–unitary democracies. Using survey data from 149 state non-state actors, fit exponential random graph models calculate predicted probabilities compare networks. Results show that consensus democracies institutionalize neighbourhoods where share collaborate with opponents. Our case majoritarian democracy illustrates concentration restricted access competitors, limiting need interact search for compromises Findings allow future work differentiate typical atypical structures, given embeddedness into system.