Strengths of the Network Approach
The networked approach to governance exhibits four main strengths. First, while not
neglecting the importance of the bureaucratic elite within the state, a networked approach
opens up the wider political landscape for examination and suggests that influential
sources of power may emanate from multiple locations within the state and society.
This framework helps to move discussions of political power beyond the original bureaucratic
focus of Riggs’s theory and allows for the inclusion of other important actors that
have even proved elusive using the political economy perspective. This approach emphasises
to a much greater degree than previous approaches the possibility that network
members may occupy positions within a number of different institutions simultaneously.