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Social Networks

Endogenous coalition formation in policy debates

·531 字·2 分钟
Polihot 公共政策 Coalition Formation Policy Debates Policy Learning Belief Adoption Social Networks
AJPS — 2026-08-10 Original Endogenous coalition formation in policy debates Philip Leifeld, Laurence Brandenberger Abstract Abstract Political actors form coalitions around their joint normative beliefs in order to influence the policy process on contentious issues such as climate change or population aging. Policy process theory maintains that learning within and across coalitions is a central predictor of policy change but has yet to explain how policy learning works. This article explains the formation and maintenance of coalitions by focusing on the ways actors adopt policy beliefs from other actors in policy debates. A policy debate is a complex social system in which temporal network dependence guides how actors contribute ideological statements. Belief adoption matters in three complementary ways: bonding , which exploits cues within coalitions; bridging , which explores new beliefs outside one's perimeter; and repulsion , which reinforces polarization between coalitions and cements their belief systems. We formalize this theory of endogenous coalition formation in policy debates and test it on a micro‐level empirical data set.

The Cultural Root of Gendered Social Network Segregation in China

·568 字·2 分钟
Polihot 比较政治 中国研究 Gender Social Networks Trust China Culture
CQ — pp. 1-13 2026-06-11 Original The Cultural Root of Gendered Social Network Segregation in China Anning Hu Abstract Abstract This report examines gender differences in trust-based social networks in contemporary China. Using data collected from a uniquely designed survey, respondents rate the trustworthiness of 24 prototypical social roles, enabling our construction of gender-specific networks. Community detection analysis reveals a tripartite structure in men’s networks – older-generation kin, same-generation kin and non-kin – versus a simpler kin/non-kin split among women. Two explanatory pathways are tested: cultural dispositions and life chance access. Matching analyses suggest cultural orientation as the primary driver: when men and women both embrace traditional ideas to the same degree, their network partitioning differences cease to exist. Further analyses suggest that the gender difference in social network partitioning lies in the fact that men are more traditionally oriented than women. This study highlights a gendered cultural configuration in which men appear relatively more “traditional” and women more “modern” as played out through gendered forms of social networking.

Social Density, Clientelism, and Community Benefits

·397 字·1 分钟
Polihot 比较政治 政治行为 Clientelism Social Networks India Slums Public Services
JOP 88/2 pp. 509-525 2026-04-01 Original Social Density, Clientelism, and Community Benefits Jeremy Spater, Erik Wibbels Abstract How does the social structure of a neighborhood affect the linkage strategies chosen by politicians? Our argument links the social centrality of individuals and the social density of neighborhoods to the incidence of individual-level clientelism and the contingent provision of neighborhood benefits, respectively. We test the resulting hypotheses using a combination of original network, experimental and nonexperimental survey data collected across 9,184 households in 217 slums across three cities in India. We find that socially central individuals are more likely to be targeted with private clientelism and that more socially dense neighborhoods are more likely to coordinate votes, attract benefits, and achieve the legal prerequisites for public services.