Governmental systems are deeply inscribed by processes of path dependence and lock-ins, yet they
are also required to play a central role in both policy reform and institutional transformation. This
paper offers an account of governance networks and posits a solution to the traditional problem
of dynamic inertia in governmental institutions and thus provides the foundations for a theory of
transformation. By first identifying network governance as a typology of institutional ensembles,
the paper describes how the ‘complementary configurations’ of institutions may provide crucial
pathways for change. Such networks are also identified as viable enabling structures for the learning,
storage, and sharing of hidden alternatives to established institutional routines. The key to their
success is identified in administrative rather than political authorization