What is Network Structure

In the United Kingdom and throughout the world there is increasing emphasis on public sector organizations working together in local partnerships. Partnerships can potentially encourage the delivery of joined-up services to citizens, promote democracy, and improve public policy making, but partnership working is not always easy and can be challenging for the individuals and organisations involved. This chapter will report on recent research into how English local authorities and their partners work together on electronic government. The research is based on a systematic literature review and a case study of a sub-regional e-government partnership, using a mixed methods approach combining social network analysis with qualitative interviews. The research identifies the importance of network structure to e-government partnerships and explores a number of other significant themes including leadership, accountability, embeddedness, and size of organization.