Managing policy‐making in the local climate governance landscape: The role of network administrative organizations and member cities
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Author | Le Anh Nguyen Long,Rachel M. Krause |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12684 |
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Managing policy-making in the local climate
governance landscape: The role of network
administrative organizations and member cities
Le Anh Nguyen Long
1
| Rachel M. Krause
2
1
Department of Public Administration,
University of Twente, Enschede, The
Netherlands
2
School of Public Affairs and Administration,
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Correspondence
Le Anh Nguyen Long, Department of Public
Administration, University of Twente, Cubicus
Building, Room C-326, Drienerlolaan 5,
Enschede, 7522 NB, The Netherlands.
Email: l.a.n.long@utwente.nl
Rachel M. Krause, School of Public Affairs and
Administration, University of Kansas, 1445
Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
Email: rmkrause@ku.edu
Abstract
Trans-municipal networks (TMNs) have reshaped the land-
scape around local government action on global climate pol-
icy. Past research has focused on why cities join TMNs and
the impact that membership has on local action. This study
considers a potential reverse effect: namely, that cities'
membership choices position them to influence TMNs'
overall priorities. In considering this, we emphasize the role
of network administrative organizations (NAOs) and posit
that the multiple climate-related networks, which share
members and operate in overlapping geographic and issue
spaces, are bound together as part of a meta-network. We
utilize social network analysis and data on membership in
four climate-related TMNs to examine the factors that
shape how cities can influence meta-network priorities. We
find that cities with local vulnerabilities tend to be located
in network positions that enable them to influence the
meta-network's overall priorities.
1|INTRODUCTION
As national and international governments struggle on issues of climate and sustainability, the number of trans-
municipal networks (TMNs) developed to support local governments in these areas has increased notably. TMNs are
networks of local governments that span jurisdictional boundaries and are formed around a shared objective. They
are organized around direct city-to-city contact and are distinguished by three features: (1) voluntary and non-
Received: 14 November 2019 Revised: 9 April 2020 Accepted: 1 June 2020
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12684
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use,
distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
© 2020 The Authors. Public Administration published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Public Admin. 2021;99:23–39. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm 23
binding membership; (2) non-hierarchical, horizontal and polycentric organizational structures; and (3) member com-
mitments to implement TMN policy decisions (Kern and Bulkeley 2009). This combination of obligation and flexibility
makes TMNs attractive to municipalities compelled to act on complex issues in an era when the range of issues local
governments are expected to address has widened, even as their access to resources continues to decline. Although
membership requires local investment, some cities have opted to join multiple similarly focused TMNs. The resulting
overlap creates links across TMNs from which an overarching informal meta-network emerges. This article addresses
the question: ‘What factors shape cities’influence within this climate and sustainability meta-network, particularly as
it pertains to their abilities to mould the overall direction of relevant policy that their peers pursue?’In so doing, it
introduces the potential for a bi-directional influence relationship between cities and TMNs' administrative hubs.
TMNs are organized by and around network administrative organizations (NAOs). NAOs are the managerial bod-
ies to which member actors delegate the organizational responsibilities of facilitating the network-wide development
of new approaches and strategies for tackling complex policy problems. NAOs operate the organizational infrastruc-
ture and broker relationships between actors within the network and between the network and external partners
(Provan and Milward 2001). They help set network priorities, steer activities, champion causes, and handle day-to-
day tasks. They also make key decisions which impact how financial, informational, technical and political influence
are distributed amongst their members.
TMNs, and the NAOs that manage them, are an important part of the modern governance landscape around cli-
mate and sustainability. For example, TMNs, including C40 Cities and ICLEI Cities for Sustainability, have raised
awareness of local governments' role in environmental policy-making and provide representation at national and
international policy-making forums (Zeppel 2013; Acuto 2016), including the UN Climate Change Conference (Meyer
et al. 2018). In what is often a noisy idea-environment, NAOs select particular priorities, approaches and actions to
promote amongst their members, for example by providing guidance on how to measure and report emissions
(Ewing-Thiel and Manarolla 2011). A key objective is to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration between cities
(Rashidi and Patt 2017), which in turn stimulates innovation. NAOs work to capacitate local governments to achieve
sustainability targets by providing knowledge, resources and incentives conducive to effective policy-making (Betsill
and Bulkeley 2007; Krause 2012a; Lee 2013). They provide the social infrastructures which allow TMNs to function
as ‘communities of practice’while also providing the opportunity for branding and reputation building (Acuto
et al. 2017).
Scholars have examined TMNs for their impact on cities' policy initiatives (Sharp et al. 2011; Krause 2012a;
Rashidi and Patt 2017). However, the reverse—cities' potential influence on overall TMN priorities—has received lit-
tle attention. This unidirectional focus limits recognition of the impact that cities' efforts can have beyond their juris-
dictional boundaries and ignores the important role they play in catalysing policy change among peers and at higher
levels of government (Shipan and Volden 2006; Koski 2010). Similarly, research into NAOs explores how these enti-
ties impact the efficacy, efficiency, and endurance of policy-making networks (Provan and Milward 2001; Provan
and Kenis 2008; Macciò and Cristofoli 2017), but often overlooks the impact that member behaviour may have on
these outcomes. Thus, by empirically accounting for the bi-directional quality of NAO relationships with network
members, we can explore the extent to which cities may leverage their membership to amplify their preferred policy
approach.
There are multiple similarly aimed TMNs active around local climate and sustainability. Although they may
emphasize different dimensions of climate change mitigation and adaption, as a group they increasingly recognize
and act at the nexus of these objectives (Lee and Jung 2018). Many municipalities have opted to participate in more
than one related TMN, suggesting that they perceive benefits from multiple membership that make these invest-
ments worthwhile. This trend towards multiple membership establishes a web of relationships between cities that
extends both within and across networks, creating a single ‘meta-network’. There is evidence of collaboration among
climate-oriented TMNs (Lusk and Gunkel 2018); however, the extant literature largely fails to recognize their con-
nectedness. NAOs play a critical role as stewards of the meta-network; they coordinate with shared-member cities
as well as directly with each other to shape priorities and governance (Lusk and Gunkel 2018). Moreover, to the
24 NGUYEN LONG AND KRAUSE
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