Political Networks as Global Governance Infrastructures

Abstract

The article develops a conceptual model of political networks as infrastructures of global governance, enabling analysis of coordination mechanisms that remain outside institutionalist explanations. The relevance of the study is driven by the increasing complexity of the global environment, the rise of multi-actor configurations, and the expansion of distributed forms of influence not reducible to formal international institutions. In this context, material and cognitive-normative processes that sustain the circulation of resources, knowledge, and interpretations gain importance yet remain insufficiently addressed in global governance research. Methodologically, the study integrates actor-network theory, network society theory, infrastructure studies, and constructivist approaches to norms and knowledge. On this basis, the proposed model identifies key infrastructural parameters: mechanisms of circulation, norm-production procedures, configurations of inclusion and exclusion, and epistemic regimes shaping the boundaries of legitimate political action. A comparative analysis of hierarchical and infrastructural logics demonstrates the limits of institutionalist perspectives and underscores the centrality of distributed network mechanisms for sustaining global processes. The typology of political networks reflects variations in organizational density and functional roles within the global order. The findings conceptualize political networks as hybrid infrastructures that condition norm formation, resource distribution, and the production of legitimacy. The model offers a foundation for further empirical verification and for examining multi-level transnational network configurations.