A crucial characteristic of political systems in general and the EU in particular is the coexistence and interdependence of formal and informal policy networks that are part of governance. Studying EU networks helps to explain how policies emerge, how they are framed and processed, why they take the character they do and how they might contribute to understand the course of integration.
To date, only a few have attempted to start network analysis in transnational settings from an individual actor’s perspective, a perspective that includes applying a micro-perspective instead of a macro-perspective, a qualitative approach instead of a quantitative approach, and an insider instead of an outsider perspective. An individual actor’s perspective enables us estimating where and which networks exist in everyday working situations, whether and why they are stable and what kind of meaning they are given by those persons involved and responsible for (EU) policy-making.
In this paper I argue that Qualitative Network Analysis (QNA) offers a unique opportunity to combine these three aspects – micro-perspective, qualitative approach, and insider perspective – in an innovative way. QNA is founded on the same basic assumptions as Social Network Analysis, and has become an ever more important field of research during the last decade. It provides a fresh approach to gathering information about qualitative aspects of policy networks that are not available through Social Network Analysis.
Until now, only few attempts have been made to apply QNA to policy networks in transnational settings. In this paper I demonstrate by using EU gender equality policy as an example, how QNA can be used for investigating policy networks. The aim of this paper is to contribute to debates about methodological techniques used to explore formal and informal EU policy networks.
