Studio Arts, Art History, Drawing and Painting Research Papers (original) (raw)

Networked governance integrates distributed capacities for problem solving and policy-making. For policy problems harboring a given level of complexity, the higher the level of social capital within an identified governance network, the more autonomy and self-organization may be conducive to achieving problem solving functions, and thus positive governance outcomes.. .. Social capital is the fabric of trust, shared values, and understanding that allows diverse participants to work together towards collective outcomes and common goals. i Even a cursory examination of history leads to the observation that human beings tend to organize themselves into groups, which become increasingly difficult to manage as the groups grow in size or complexity. Systems of governance arise in response to this need, granting greater authority to certain individuals in order to work towards the greater good of the whole. Few large social organizations are as fundamentally democratic as ancient Athens, where all male citizens over the age of 18 participated directly in the assembly. ii German sociologist Max Weber observed that in the modern era, governance is characterized by systematic coordination of the work of many individuals through a formalized and hierarchical structure run by an administrative class responsible for coordinating the activities of the organization's members. The hierarchy determines lines of communication, delegation of authority, and division of work based on specialization, all conducted under a complex set of official policies and procedures. iii This system is endemic to nearly all human institutions today because it possesses distinct advantages in ensuring consistency, control, accountability, objectivity, and impartiality. However, it also produces negative consequences in the form of attitudes and actions that damage individual morale, subvert organizational effectiveness, create divisions between people within the organization, and engender internal strife. iv Being large and complex social organizations, universities exhibit many of the same characteristics. Furthermore, they share in a collective identity with other universities, including a common historical lineage dating back to medieval Europe, and a typical set of norms and practices. They are also embedded within particular geographical and socio-political environments and subject to specific " governmental regulations, professional norms, and cultural-cognitive values, beliefs, and traditions. " v The subsequent development of immensely intricate, formalized, multilayered governance systems is therefore unsurprising and taken for granted by their constituents. In contrast, networked governance is an informal or organic social system of voluntary cooperation between autonomous groups and individuals. Relationships are not legally binding, existing