Exploring power imbalance in reciprocal scientific information sharing within a hydraulic fracturing policy subsystem.

Sharing scientific and technical information plays a vital role in fostering more deliberate political dynamics within policy subsystems, according to the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). However, obstacles to this exchange are not well understood. Our research, guided by theories of social exchange and network embeddedness, explores how power imbalances relate to the reciprocal exchange of scientific information. Using network visualization and quadratic assignment procedure multiple regression on the network data from a local hydraulic fracturing policy subsystem in New York, we find that power imbalances negatively affect the sharing of scientific and technical information within the subsystem, and this adverse relationship is consistent regardless of shared policy beliefs. Despite the presence of collaborative relationships, power imbalances hinder information sharing. Conversely, trust among policy actors helps to lessen the detrimental effects of power imbalances on information exchange. These findings contribute to the ACF and policy process literature by highlighting power imbalances as barriers to information sharing and elucidating how these imbalances interplay with beliefs, collaboration, and trust, in affecting information dissemination within policy subsystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]