Networks of Collective Action: A Perspective on Community Influence Systems develops a theoretically informed research framework for the structural analysis of social systems. To this end, special attention is given to two fundamental issues in structural analysis: First, how does one most usefully define or identify the elementary units, be they individuals, corporate actors, or population subgroups, that comprise a given social system, and in what ways should these elementary units be characterized or differentiated from one another? And, second, what are the relational modalities by which these actors are linked to one another in ways that are relevant to understanding how their individual preferences and behavior are coordinated or integrated with one another for purposes of collective action (i.e., to achieve collective goals)?
The book is organized into three main parts. Part I describes the research site and its environmental context, and then makes a structural analysis of the internal social and value differentiation of the population subsystem. Part II focuses on the elite subsystem and on its role in resolving specific community controversies. Part III turns to a topic often neglected in studying democratically legitimized influence systems: the systematic theoretical and empirical characterization of the relationships between the elite and the population subsystems in the community.

Contenu

List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction: A Theoretical and Methodological Overview
Principles of Structural Analysis
Models of Integration
Why Community Decision Making?
A Heuristic Model for Studying Community Social Systems
Altneustadt: A Case of the Drosophila Fruit Fly?
Some General Methodological Observations
Plan of the Book
Part 1 The Community: Context and Internal Structure of Its Population Subsystem
2 Introducing the Community: The Research Site for an Illustrative Case Study
The Community Context
A Systematic Comparison of Altneustadt with Other German Cities
3 The Internal Social Structural Differentiation of the Community
Altneustadt's Bases of Social Differentiation
Concluding Remarks
4 Value Orientations: Their Structure and Social Differentiation
Measuring Social Value Orientations
Value Differentiation of Population Groups
Some Gedankenexperimente
Concluding Remarks
Part 2 The Community Influence System
5 Locating the Top Community Influential
The Identification of Community Influential and Their Respective Institutional Sectors
The Rank Order of Influence
6 The Coalitional Structure of Altneustadt's Elite
The Network of Informal Relations
Condensation of the Digraph of Informal Relations
The Internal Differentiation of the Dominant CDU Clique
The Internal Differentiation of the Rival SPD Clique
Differences in Values and Political Strategies within and between the Various Coalitions
Conclusion
7 Opening the Black Box: Relations among the Community Elite: A Method for Describing Their Structure
The Theoretical Rationale for the Description of Community Influence Structures
The Methodology of Structural Analysis: Graph Theory and Smallest Space Analysis
Graphic Representations of Influence Structures
Conclusion
8 A Causal Modeling Approach to the Study of a Community Elite's Influence Structure With Lois M. Verbrugge
Introduction
A General Causal Model for the Community Influence Structure
Measuring the Variables in the Causal Model
Estimating the Model
Results and Discussion
Some Further Considerations and Caveats
9 Consensus and Cleavage: The Resolution of Issues
Toward a Typology of Community Issues
The Selection of Community Issues in Altneustadt
Graphic Representation of the Cleavage Structure
10 Bringing Groups Back in: The Structure of Interrelations among Corporate Actors in the Community
The Collectivity Structure of Community Influence
Graphic Representation of Altneustadt's Corporate Actor Structure
The Cleavage Structure of Corporate Actors
Conclusion
Part 3 The Interface Between Community and Elite
11 The Resource Base of Community Influence: A Strategy for Studying Their Distribution, Efficacy, and Convertibility
Introduction
A Typology of Community Influence Resources
Hypothetical Model of the Process of Resource Conversion
Operationalizing the Model
The Distribution of Resources
The Elite-Community Interface and Types of Resources
The Relative Efficacy of Influence Resources
Conclusion
12 The Interface between Community and Elite
Some Preliminary Remarks
The Social Structure of the Community-Elite Interface
Concluding Remarks
13 Prospects and Conclusion
Some Propositions Relating to the Population Subsystem
Some Propositions Relating to the Elite (Integrative) Subsystem
Some Propositions Relating to the Interface of Population and Elite Subsystems
Some Concluding Remarks
Appendix A
Part I. Study Design and Sampling Procedures for the Community Survey
Part II. Study Design for the Elite Survey
Appendix B
Part I. Indicators of Social Value Orientations
Part II. Index of Community Satisfaction
Part III. Community Preferences on Four Controversies in Altneustadt
Appendix C
Part I. Interview Schedule for Community Elite Survey
Part II. Item List for Community Elite Survey
References and Selected Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index