Project Overview:
Industry Partners and Research Team:
This three year study is being conducted by a research team from the University of Melbourne, in conjunction with the Australian Research Council, VicHealth and Knox, Manningham, Maribyrnong and Port Phillip City Councils. The project team is being led by Professor Mark Considine, Head of the School of Political Science, Criminology and Sociology at the University of Melbourne, and includes Dr Jenny Lewis, Dr Jo Barraket and Dr Damon Alexander, who is responsible for the day to day operation and coordination of the research.
Objectives:
A key challenge facing public policy-makers in the global era is the task of making public institutions more responsive to the needs of citizens. Understanding the architecture, nature and characteristics of network ties between citizens, community groups and government is central to meeting this challenge and to enhancing the democratic underpinnings of existing governance systems.
Against this background, this project will use a social network analysis approach to explore the formal and informal networks linking politicians, bureaucrats, civic leaders and citizens at the neighbourhood level. In doing so, the following key questions will be explored:
What types of networks act as useful social and political resources for citizens?
What role do networks play in fostering well-being at the individual and community level?
How do different networks impact upon governance at the local level?
How do network structures and ties differ according to place?
What other factors impact on network structure?
Methodology:
The research will take place over two stages.
Stage 1. Telephone Survey
Stage 1 will use a telephone survey of 500 residents in each of two neighbourhoods across the four municipalities to explore the social, economic, and political support networks of residents, their level of civic engagement, and the extent to which they are connected to their community through membership of groups and organisations. The following suburbs have been chosen for participation in the survey:
Knox: Boronia and Rowville.
Manningham: Doncaster and Warrandyte
Maribyrnong: Footscray and Yarraville
Port Phillip: East St Kilda and Port Melbourne
For more information on the survey please follow this link: Telephone Survey
Stage 2. Community Group Surveys/Interviews
Stage 2 of the project will use a combination of questionnaires and in-depth semi-structured interviews with key groups to further explore the structure and composition of the social networks identified, the linkages between groups at the local level, and their connectivity with local government.
Outcomes/Community Benefits:
In addition to its theoretical and methodological contributions in the research fields of social capital, social network analysis and public policy, we envisage that the project will also generate significant community benefits. These include:
An enhanced capacity of participating local governments to facilitate local governance through improved connectedness within the communities they serve;
A clearer picture of the role and function of meso-level organisations such as community groups and NGO’s in linking citizens to government and in contributing to effective local governance;
Dissemination throughout government and community sectors of good practice examples of strategies for building and facilitating citizen engagement;
Building policy understandings of the way programs may strengthen the roles of engaged individuals or groups, decrease social distance by targeting distant groups for inclusion, and test the effectiveness of initiatives by asking the right selection of citizens and groups whether, and how, they have made use of new programs or policies; and
Generating new understandings of how programs and policies can be used to improve health and well being in communities.
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