Policy networks in a state-centered context: Waste management collaboration in China

Much of the literature on policy networks is focused on cases where agents of state power actively withdraw from the production and provision of services in return for increased economy and efficiency. While co-productive... [ view full abstract ]

Much of the literature on policy networks is focused on cases where agents of state power actively withdraw from the production and provision of services in return for increased economy and efficiency. While co-productive pressures similarly apply in state-centered political systems, there is little research on whether and how policy networks may form and operate effectively when the state continues to dominate the policy process at the expense of non-state actors. Our field study of the NGO network of waste management in Beijing—chosen as an illustrative case due to its policy significance—collects network statistics on information sharing, resource transfers, and advocacy between NGOs to examine the proposition that institutions limiting access to the policy process and suppressing collective action can motivate collaborative patterns that deviate from standard theoretical expectations. We discuss how the strategic considerations and choices of policy actors could be altered by state-centered politics.