<title>Abstract</title> The term governance has been used in a variety of ways, but is most often presented as an attempt to improve co-ordination between relatively dependent actors for the purpose of solving societal problems. It involves the horizontal steering of relations across networks, and can...

<title>Abstract</title> Increasing attention is being paid to the application of complex systems theories in the social sciences. Although this trend is less prominent in the field of public administration, some examples of the use of complexity theory in research in this domain can be found. This article...

<title>Abstract</title> This article investigates the relationship between the connective style of network management and outcomes of governance processes and explains differences and developments in managerial styles in complex governance networks in relation to outcomes. We found that a strong connective...

<title>Abstract</title> Within public administration and policy sciences the concept of policy networks nowadays is well accepted. Not much attention has been paid so far to strategies aimed at institutional design. Therefore, in this article, we develop a conceptual framework to study institutional design...

<title>Abstract</title> The idea that decision-making processes and management in public policy and public administration are complex has entered the minds of practitioners and scholars in public administration. Insights from theories on complexity, however, have hardly been used in public administration and...

<title>Abstract</title> The assumption in the governance literature is that stakeholder involvement enhances the chances of success of governance processes. Place branding has a strong governance character in that it involves many different actors and the government is one of the parties in the branding...

The hollow state is characterized by governing through networks. In this article, we explore the nature of the hollow state and trace and illustrate three basic uncertainties in the decision-making process which create complexity: knowledge uncertainty, institutional uncertainty and strategic...