Abstract

Constraints and opportunities provided by social networks of international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have recently become a focal point among international relations scholars under the heading network governance. This research adds to the understanding of how characteristics of NGO populations constrain and enable engagement on emerging issues by theorizing a connection between the dynamics of populations, hierarchical networks structures, issue emergence, and collective action. A mixed method approach combines statistical network analysis with process tracing case studies of networks within environmental and social advocacy fields at the international level in the European Union. Findings suggest that while characteristics of NGO populations do explain how networks become hierarchically structured, the structures themselves do not directly affect issue emergence. Further, the relationship between issue emergence and collective action is shown to not always be linear as academics have assumed, rather sometimes inverted or circular in nature, providing fertile ground for future research.