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Power Networks

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Abstract

This chapter reviews research on power networks, defined as sets of political actors connected by one or more types of decision-making actions, such as communicating, persuading, influencing, or deciding the outcomes of legislative, regulatory, or judicial issues. It examines research on policy networks in developed nations such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Japan, and in transitional nations of Eastern Europe and China. It reviews evidence about an emerging transnational corporate class, followed by a discussion of analytic power elite social structures and a methodological illustration using the 1990s Mexican power elite. It concludes with suggestions for future analyses of power networks.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    David Knoke

Authors
  1. David Knoke
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany

    Heinrich Best

  2. University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    John Higley

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Knoke, D. (2018). Power Networks. In: Best, H., Higley, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51904-7_34

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