David Knoke

Collective action asks a fundamental question in social science: How do sets of actorschoose courses of action and work together to achieve desired outcomes, often inopposition to other coalitions? Psychological and economic rationality explanations areincomplete in emphasizing the mental decision processes of individuals. Collectiveaction must be understood at the level analysis of interpersonal and interorganizationalrelations. Social network theories and methods provide optimal frameworks forexplaining collective action in a variety of settings. This book reviews theories andempirical research on collective action in several substantive areas, demonstrates howagent-based models can analyze collective action networks (pandemics, riots, socialmovements, insurrections, insurgencies), and concludes with speculations about futureresearch directions.

Research on social networks has become a significant area of investigation in the social sciences, and social network concepts and tools are widely employed across many subfields within the field. This volume introduces political theorists and researchers to new theoretical, methodological, and substantive tools for extending political network research into new realms and revitalizing established domains. The authors synthesize new understandings of multimodal political networks, consisting of two or more types of social entities - voters, politicians, parties, events, organizations, nations - and the complex relations between them. They discuss ways to theorize about multimodal connections, methods for measuring and analyzing multimodal datasets, and how the results can reveal new insights into political structures and action. Several empirical applications demonstrate in great detail how multimodal analysts can detect and visualize political communities consisting of diverse social entities.

Research on social networks has become a significant area of investigation in the social sciences, and social network concepts and tools are widely employed across many subfields within the field. This volume introduces political theorists and researchers to new theoretical, methodological, and substantive tools for extending political network research into new realms and revitalizing established domains. The authors synthesize new understandings of multimodal political networks, consisting of two or more types of social entities - voters, politicians, parties, events, organizations, nations - and the complex relations between them. They discuss ways to theorize about multimodal connections, methods for measuring and analyzing multimodal datasets, and how the results can reveal new insights into political structures and action. Several empirical applications demonstrate in great detail how multimodal analysts can detect and visualize political communities consisting of diverse social entities.

David Knoke and Song Yang's Social Network Analysis, Third Edition provides a concise introduction to the concepts and tools of social network analysis. The authors convey key material while at the same time minimizing technical complexities. The examples are simple: sets of 5 or 6 entities such as individuals, positions in a hierarchy, political offices, and nation-states, and the relations between them include friendship, communication, supervision, donations, and trade. The new edition reflects developments and changes in practice over the past decade. The authors also describe important recent developments in network analysis, especially in the fifth chapter. Exponential random graph models (ERGMs) are a prime example: when the second edition was published, P* models were the recommended approach for this, but they have been replaced by ERGMs. Finally, throughout the volume, the authors comment on the challenges and opportunities offered by internet and social media data.

Efforts by American companies to adapt to intense environmental pressures, arising from incessant technological innovation and fierce competition across global product markets, are dramatically changing how firms and their employees work. Daily headlines blare about corporate downsizings, strategic alliances, joint ventures, acquisitions and merger

Organizing for Collective Action investigates the political and economic behaviors of national associations, including trade associations, professional societies, labor unions, and public interest groups. It focuses upon the ways that these organizations acquire resources and allocate them to various collective actions, particularly for member services, public relations, and political action. This analysis is structured around three broad theoretical paradigms for collective action: (1) the problem of societal integration which concerns the ways that people are tied to organizations and the ways that organizations connect their members with the larger society; (2) the problem of organizational governance which considers how individuals become unified collectivities capable of acting in a coordinated manner, and (3) the problem of public policy influence which involves interactions among public and private interest groups to formulate the binding decisions under which we all must live.

Social relations are crucial for understanding diverse economic actions and a network perspective is central to that explanation. Simple exchanges involving money, labor, and commodities combine into complexly connected systems. Economic networks span many levels of analysis, from persons (consumers, employees), to groups (households, workteams), organizations (corporations, interest groups), populations (industries, markets) and the rapidly expanding global economic system. David Knoke blends network theories from a range of disciplines and empirical studies of domestic and international economies to illuminate how economic activity is embedded in and constrained by social ties among economic actors. Social capital, in the form of connections to others holding valuable resources, is vital for finding a job, buying a car, creating a new industry, or triggering a global financial crisis. In nontechnical terms the author explicates the core network concepts, measures, and analysis methods behind these phenomena. The book also includes many striking network diagrams to provide visual insights into complex structural patterns. This accessible book offers an invaluable critique for both undergraduate and graduate students in economic sociology and social network analysis courses who seek a better understanding of the multifaceted economic webs in which we are all entangled.

Social relations are crucial for understanding diverse economic actions and a network perspective is central to that explanation. Simple exchanges involving money, labor, and commodities combine into complexly connected systems. Economic networks span many levels of analysis, from persons (consumers, employees), to groups (households, workteams), organizations (corporations, interest groups), populations (industries, markets) and the rapidly expanding global economic system. David Knoke blends network theories from a range of disciplines and empirical studies of domestic and international economies to illuminate how economic activity is embedded in and constrained by social ties among economic actors. Social capital, in the form of connections to others holding valuable resources, is vital for finding a job, buying a car, creating a new industry, or triggering a global financial crisis. In nontechnical terms the author explicates the core network concepts, measures, and analysis methods behind these phenomena. The book also includes many striking network diagrams to provide visual insights into complex structural patterns. This accessible book offers an invaluable critique for both undergraduate and graduate students in economic sociology and social network analysis courses who seek a better understanding of the multifaceted economic webs in which we are all entangled.

"We are in the midst of rapid change in how firms organize themselves and their work. There are numerous popular accounts of this evolution but few theoretically grounded and research based assessments. Into this gap steps David Knoke. Changing Organizations is an invaluable resource for all concerned with organizational restructuring and will be an essential reference and starting point for scholars and practitioners who want a serious account of what has occurred and what is likely to happen next." Peter Osterman Massachusetts Institute of Technology "In this book, Changing Organizations, David Knoke shows how a social network approach can unify topics as diverse as corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, national innovation systems, workplace struggles, and corporate informed explanation of why corporations have become so powerful in American society. For graduate students in organization studies courses and MBAs, the book's many extended case examples will provide a valuable context for classroom discussions. The book is packed with informative figures and charts, as well as a helpful appendix on network analysis, and thus will prove valuable as a reference book, as well." Howard E. Aldrich University of North Carolina In Changing Organizations David Knoke examines the formation of intra- and inter-organizational networks and their impact on the fates of employees, companies, and communities. He explores how the network perspective—when used in conjunction with ecology, insitutionalism, power and resource dependence, transaction cost economics, organizational learning, and evolutionary theories—contributes to a more comprehensive explanation of organizational transformations. Written in an accessible narrative style for advanced undergraduate students in sociology, public policy, and business management courses, it draws heavily from contemporary cases to illustrate key concepts. Knoke also offers readers a careful exposition of basic structural and network concepts and principles. This text is well suited for courses in sociology of organizations, business organizations/management, and public policy/administration.

This book illuminates what is really happening in the American workplace. The contributors explain how the widespread restructuring of American firms--usually resulting in a reduction of the workforce to cut costs--has had a profound impact on the lives of workers. The book explains how the new relationship requires high skill levels, but does not provide training for them. Workers themselves now must take charge of their personal development instead of relying on their employers. Their alienation from their firms is compounded by the large disparity between the pay of top managers and that of workers. The future is uncertain, but the authors argue that the traditional relationship between employer and employees will continue to erode.

The United States, Germany, and Japan - the world’s three most powerful and successful free market societies - differ strikingly in how their governments relate to their economies. Comparing Policy Networks reports the results of collaborative research by three teams investigating the social organization and policymaking processes of national labor policy domains in the United States, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s. The researchers gathered information about policy goals, communication patterns, and political support connections from 350 key national organizations, including labor unions, business associations, public interest groups, government agencies, and political parties. These networks reveal similar conflict divisions between business and labor interests, but also distinctive patterns within each nation. Unique combinations of informal policy-making networks and the national political institutions may in part explain the differences in power structures and legislative decisions.

This book examines almost two decades of research using the structural or network approach to political behaviour. Network analysis begins with the assumption that the most important elements of political power are the relationships of influence and domination among social actors. Influence is exchange of information about preferences and intentions; domination is the exchange of material sanctions to reward or punish compliance with commands. By examining the confluence of these two networks, analysts can develop a structural picture of the political process.

Organizing for Collective Action investigates the political and economic behaviors of national associations, including trade associations, professional societies, labor unions, and public interest groups. It focuses upon the ways that these organizations acquire resources and allocate them to various collective actions, particularly for member services, public relations, and political action. This analysis is structured around three broad theoretical paradigms for collective action: (1) the problem of societal integration which concerns the ways that people are tied to organizations and the ways that organizations connect their members with the larger society; (2) the problem of organizational governance which considers how individuals become unified collectivities capable of acting in a coordinated manner, and (3) the problem of public policy influence which involves interactions among public and private interest groups to formulate the binding decisions under which we all must live.

This book examines almost two decades of research using the structural or network approach to political behaviour. Network analysis begins with the assumption that the most important elements of political power are the relationships of influence and domination among social actors. Influence is exchange of information about preferences and intentions; domination is the exchange of material sanctions to reward or punish compliance with commands. By examining the confluence of these two networks, analysts can develop a structural picture of the political process.

The Federal Government in the United States is a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Presidents are elected by popular vote in the nation (filtered through the electoral college), Senators are elected by popular vote in their states, and Representatives are elected by popular vote in their Congressional districts. Cabinet members and agency heads are appointed by the elected president, as are members of the Supreme Court. But this says nothing about politics. Professor Lauman and Knoke have asked, in this book, how policies were made, in the period 1977-1980, in the areas of energy and health. The question is a very different one from the question of how the positions of president and Congress are filled.

Introduces methods for quantitative assessment of relationships among categoric variables in multivariable crosstabulations. Procedures to estimate and interpret effect parameters for hierarchical models are described for both the general loglinear model and its logit version.