Governance, networks and policy change: the case of cannabis in the United Kingdom

The two coterminous concepts of governance and policy networks have been reasserted in public management studies in the wake of the recent decline in the popularity of the so-called New Public Management (NPM) movement. The concepts appear to be inter-related with the notion of the policy network offering a perspective on efforts to “join up government”, which is also derived from “governance” approaches (DeLeon 2005). While this chapter focuses on these concepts, it is clear that an understanding of networks is vital to the aspirations of the proponents of joined-up government in terms of achieving joined-up governance. It is also assumed that governance goes beyond top-level policy coordination to where the public sector coordinates and cooperates with nonstate actors, such as firms and voluntary organizations, to deliver policy outcomes.