Th is article centers on two interconnected ideas that have
garnered increasing attention in public administration:
(1) a shift away from centralized institutional
authority structures and (2) the concomitant rise of
networks in the public sector. While network theories
have been viewed as ushering in a new paradigm for
understanding governance, they remain rooted in the
language and framework of hierarchical bureaucratic
systems. Th e author suggests that embracing an approach
not grounded in a centralized institutional perspective
may clarify network theories in public administration.
Specifi cally, the author argues that anarchism has
much to add to our understanding of networks and
illustrates how an anarchist perspective may advance
our understanding of networks in three areas—network
formation, network stability, and accountability in
networks—in which the hierarchical perspective has
generated persistent questions.