Rules as institutional context for decision making in networks; the approach to postwar housing districts in two cities.

One of the issues within the network approach to policy concerns the influence of the network structure on the policy processes that are taking place within it. A central point is the concept of rules. The basic assumption is that actors in networks form communal rules during their interactions. This article shows the way in which these network rules influence the policy processes. First, the rules of two local social housing networks are reconstructed. We then show how these rules differ, for example in terms of rules for conflict regulation and autonomy, between the two networks and how they influenced the decision-making surrounding the rehabilitation and restructuring of post-war housing districts that took place within these networks. We look at the extent to which these differences in the rule structures of the networks explain the differences in the development of the decision-making processes. The article concludes with a discussion of rules as a context for decision making.