Between friend and foe: drivers and patterns of dyadic relationship framing in policy network
International Journal of Public Sector Management
ISSN: 0951-3558
Article publication date: 16 October 2023
Issue publication date: 2 January 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to explore (1) specific frames of dyadic relationship in policy network beyond a simplistic dichotomy of “friend or foe” and (2) the multi-dimensional drivers behind the framing patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
To that end, the interviews with the key actors in a nuclear energy policy network in South Korea were conducted, and their relationships in terms of three dimensions were analyzed: belief accordance, communication frequency and resource symmetry.
Findings
As a result, 12 relationships that can occur in the policy networks were identified: helping, collaborating, cooperating, unconcerned, stabilizing, observing, pushing, confronting, challenging, ignoring, watching and avoiding. These 12 frames were observed in various in-/congruent patterns between network actors.
Originality/value
The findings provide theoretical and practical implications on why and how the network actors may assess one another through the 12 discrete frames, which are drawn from the three dimensional drivers of belief accordance, communication frequency and resource symmetry.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2016S1A3A2924956).
Citation
Lee, J. and Lee, J. (2024), "Between friend and foe: drivers and patterns of dyadic relationship framing in policy network", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 20-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-05-2023-0146
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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