Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

We often observe fragmentation in policy systems, meaning that certain groups of policy actors tend to carry out their governance functions independently of one another, even when there are many potential benefits of coordination. There is an ongoing debate about fragmentation and the degree to which, and how, fragmentation influences the policy process. A leading hypothesis is that high degrees of fragmentation in functional domains, such as decisions related to water, food, and energy, inhibits innovation and policy learning within governance systems, ultimately hurting our ability to sustainably manage natural resources.

This paper uses network analysis to develop a new measure of fragmentation in metropolitan regions, based on both archival sources as well as surveys of policy participants. This measure allows for an empirical test of the complex relationship between fragmentation in decision making and sustainability outcomes -- that is, what metropolitan regions do to simultaneously promote human well-being a protect ecological systems. These relationships are examined in the context of four metropolitan regions in two U.S. states (Arizona and Florida). Overall this paper makes methodological and theoretical contributions to the study of fragmentation and the policy process, and in addition explores practical implication in terms of strategies that metropolitan regions might use to better connect their governance systems and achieve more sustainable and efficient policy outcomes.