The Politics of Environmental Networks

Environmental political networks research uses social network analysis to investigate the political processes underlying the complex relational dynamics of environmental governance. The analysis of internal political processes sheds light on the relational mechanisms of collaboration and contention that underpin coalition-building, mobilization, and environmental policy decision-making. Additionally, understanding environmental outcomes requires investigating external politics, namely, how environmental networks are embedded in broader institutional and political contexts. This editorial provides a brief overview of the internal and external politics of environmental networks and presents the conceptual and empirical contributions of the 11 articles that investigate both dimensions of environmental political networks by combining social network analysis with other methodological tools.