Double-Edged Hydropolitics on the Nile - Center for Security Studies ...

Introduction
The notion of policy networks has gained prominence in recent years,
both due to the impression that policy processes increasingly depend on
large numbers of different actors, and due to the explanatory benefits of
highlighting the linkages between political stakeholders (see Bressers et al.
1995). Linkages between actors are used to exchange information and opinions,
to form alliances in support of certain policy options, or to cooperate on
the implementation of projects and strategies. While different qualitative
and quantitative approaches to the analysis of policy networks have been
applied, the insights as to what network types produce which policy outputs
are rather fragmentary and qualitative. In this thesis, quantitative network
data are combined with qualitative insights in order to illustrate the relevant
structures governing water policy processes, and to identify key actors and
their specific linkages to other domestic stakeholders (see Chapter 6).
The three ‘patterns’ of decision-making distinguished by Graham Allison
(1971) – i.e., rational choice, organizational processes, and governmental
politics – provide a useful framework for the analysis of ‘Level II’ policy
processes in the context of a two-level game study (see also Chapter 4).
Rational choice type decisions are made by a unitary actor (or like-minded
group of actors) with the goal of maximizing utility in relation to clearly
defined goals. Organizational process type decisions are conceptualized as
the output of (sub-) units in the policy sector applying organizational rules
and standard procedures. Governmental politics type decisions are defined
as the outcome of a bargaining process between different domestic actors,
and can be understood only by analyzing these actors’ interests and relative
influence on the decision-making process.
Other studies on the linkages between domestic policy processes and
the formation of international environmental regimes tested similar sets
of decision-making patterns (e.g., Underdal 2000). Intuitively, the task of
transboundary policy harmonization can be expected to be easier if domestic
policy processes follow a rational choice pattern rather than complex mechanisms
involving multiple institutions and actors with diverging interests.
An earlier analysis of the processes leading to the design and construction
of the Aswan High Dam identified marked deviations from the rational
choice decision-making pattern (Rycroft and Szyliowicz 1980).
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