Organizational roles and network effects on ideational influence in science-policy interface: Climate policy networks in Germany and Japan

• Published in: Social networks 2023-10, Vol.75, p.88-106
• Main Authors: Satoh, Keiichi, Nagel, Melanie, Schneider, Volker
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate policy process; Organizational ecology; Organizational networks; Policy networks; QAP; Scientific expertise
• ISSN: 0378-8733
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2022.01.014

We examined how scientific information influences policy beliefs among organizations in climate change policy networks in Germany and Japan. Different combinations of information types, policy beliefs, and organizational roles were found to play instrumental roles. Ideational influence can occur when (1) the sender is a credible information source, (2) the receiver can understand the “message,” and (3) the receiver depends on the sender’s information. Organizational roles involved in this ideational influence are different in technical and political information exchange. The leverage of influence depends on the organizational ecology of different roles in each country. •This policy network study examines the science-policy interface in climate policy.•QAP regression models were applied to the organizational policy beliefs.•Five different roles in scientific information exchange were identified.•The specific combinations of beliefs, info type, and organizational roles matter.•The organizational ecology in Japan and Germany decides the leverage of influence.