Political Deadlock: A Network Analysis of Decision Processes in Urban Politics

Abstract

Urban stakeholders face a diverse range of socio-economic, cultural, and technical challenges that each demand diverging and partially conflicting answers. In this context, local and regional public actors’ capacity to smoothly govern decision- making processes is structurally limited. Rather typically, conflicts may occur between public administration and the business community or the civil society. Moreover, actors within public administration notoriously clash over priorities. In this paper, we address the case of decision blockades and non-action in urban development politics. More specifically, we advance a network analytical perspective to explore the dynamics that lead to a political deadlock and persistent non-action in the case of Deutz Harbour in Cologne, Germany. Our findings indicate that a distribution of power and a non-prioritisation of frames effectively hinder action towards decision-making.