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The impact of political attention on collaborative environmental governance among municipal street-level bureaucrats

Becker, Per LU orcid and Bodin, Örjan (2025) In Policy Studies Journal p.1-24
Abstract

Collaboration
in governing complex environmental challenges is the norm. However,
collaboration does not necessarily deliver desirable outcomes, and the
importance of forming collaborative networks that effectively address the
challenges at hand has been emphasized in theory and practice. Evidence for
what constitutes a suitable network structure is still scarce, and the
understanding of what factors drive collaboration that constitutes such
networks is limited. Utilizing a comparative approach, this study elucidates if
and how varying political attention impacts the social tie formation among
municipal street-­ level bureaucrats addressing flood risk mitigation in their
daily... (More)

Collaboration
in governing complex environmental challenges is the norm. However,
collaboration does not necessarily deliver desirable outcomes, and the
importance of forming collaborative networks that effectively address the
challenges at hand has been emphasized in theory and practice. Evidence for
what constitutes a suitable network structure is still scarce, and the
understanding of what factors drive collaboration that constitutes such
networks is limited. Utilizing a comparative approach, this study elucidates if
and how varying political attention impacts the social tie formation among
municipal street-­ level bureaucrats addressing flood risk mitigation in their
daily work. Our results show that political attention, conceptualized as
saliency and a broad framing of the issue, has a marked effect on network
formation processes. When political attention is low, water & sewage
experts (technical experts) dominate tie formation, while politicians and
senior managers (decision makers) and planners (cross-­ sector experts)
increase their relative efforts in forming collaborative ties when political attention
is high. Further, political attention is also positively associated with
appointed coordinators' abilities to collaborate with others. Both these
processes coincide with desirable governance outcomes. Our study of local-­
level collaborative governance demonstrates a need to better understand the
nexus of political attention, collaborative network formation, and environmental
governance outcomes.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
collaborative governance, political attention, street-level bureaucrat
in
Policy Studies Journal
pages
1 - 24
publisher
Wiley
external identifiers
  • scopus:105001840084
ISSN
1541-0072
DOI
10.1111/psj.70020
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
28db4478-049c-4a15-85f9-2ce3168d4b9b
date added to LUP
2025-04-14 09:07:42
date last changed
2025-04-22 10:33:00
@article{28db4478-049c-4a15-85f9-2ce3168d4b9b,
  abstract     = {{<p class="MsoNormal">Collaboration<br>
in governing complex environmental challenges is the norm. However,<br>
collaboration does not necessarily deliver desirable outcomes, and the<br>
importance of forming collaborative networks that effectively address the<br>
challenges at hand has been emphasized in theory and practice. Evidence for<br>
what constitutes a suitable network structure is still scarce, and the<br>
understanding of what factors drive collaboration that constitutes such<br>
networks is limited. Utilizing a comparative approach, this study elucidates if<br>
and how varying political attention impacts the social tie formation among<br>
municipal street-­ level bureaucrats addressing flood risk mitigation in their<br>
daily work. Our results show that political attention, conceptualized as<br>
saliency and a broad framing of the issue, has a marked effect on network<br>
formation processes. When political attention is low, water &amp; sewage<br>
experts (technical experts) dominate tie formation, while politicians and<br>
senior managers (decision makers) and planners (cross-­ sector experts)<br>
increase their relative efforts in forming collaborative ties when political attention<br>
is high. Further, political attention is also positively associated with<br>
appointed coordinators' abilities to collaborate with others. Both these<br>
processes coincide with desirable governance outcomes. Our study of local-­<br>
level collaborative governance demonstrates a need to better understand the<br>
nexus of political attention, collaborative network formation, and environmental<br>
governance outcomes. </p>}},
  author       = {{Becker, Per and Bodin, Örjan}},
  issn         = {{1541-0072}},
  keywords     = {{collaborative governance; political attention; street-level bureaucrat}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  pages        = {{1--24}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley}},
  series       = {{Policy Studies Journal}},
  title        = {{The impact of political attention on collaborative environmental governance among municipal street-level bureaucrats}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/psj.70020}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/psj.70020}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}