Policy networks and change : the case of high-tc superconductors

The problems of change and inertia in policy networks have been widely discussed in various fields of public policy making. The question of how new issues and actors can be quickly integrated into networks is especially relevant in the case of research and technology policy which must react quickly to scientific discoveries so that firms can translate new knowledge into profitable methods and products. This paper examines how the German superconductivity policy network reacted to a sudden breakthrough in superconductivity research. It shows first why and how the established network included the new issue - ceramic high-Tc superconductors (HTS) - in its agenda in a very specific way. And it shows second, why and how an actor from outside tried to enter the networ~ why he succeeded and how this event shaped the structure and policy of the network. The analysis deals with the transformation of the whole policy network and the formation of an HTS policy programme as a consequence of the intersection of actor strategies and new opportunity structures that were offered by scientific and technological change.