Institutional entrepreneurship through network governance: a social network analysis of NEA's creative placemaking national initiative

Abstract

ABSTRACT The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) implements creative placemaking (CPM) policy by forging and coordinating a broad-based national policy network. This article visualizes and analyzes the national CPM policy network based on hyperlinks on the policy actors’ websites. By unpacking the roles, resources, and affected interests of policy actors and their relationships with each other in the policy network, this article finds that the NEA exercises institutional entrepreneurship through CPM policy with four governance strategies: (1) seek legitimacy by re-activating federal interagency relations; (2) reorient and expand arts constituencies through existing governance infrastructure and new brokers; (3) develop discursive strategy and advance policy implementation through consulting and research organizations, and (4) diversify financial support by reaching out to banks and foundations. In the entrepreneurial process, the NEA also develops a mutually reinforcing mechanism of public value, financial stability, and artistic vitality with the governance strategies.