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Using a Hilbert space framework inspired by the methods of orthogonal projections and Hodge decompositions, we study a general class of problems (called Z-problems) that arise in effective media theory, especially within the theory of composites, for defining the effective operator. A new and unified approach is developed, based on block operator methods, for obtaining solutions of the Z-problem, formulas for the effective operator in terms of the Schur complement, and associated variational principles (e.g., the Dirichlet and Thomson minimization principles) that lead to upper and lower bounds on the effective operator. In the case of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces, this allows for a relaxation of the standard hypotheses on positivity and invertibility for the classes of operators usually considered in such problems, by replacing inverses with the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse. As we develop the theory, we show how it applies to the classical example from the theory of composites on the effective conductivity in the periodic conductivity problem in the continuum (2d and 3d) under the standard hypotheses. After that, we consider the following three important and diverse examples of discrete electrical network problems in which our theory applies under the relaxed hypotheses. First, an operator-theoretic reformulation of the discrete Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) map for an electrical network on a finite linear graph is given and used to relate the DtN map to the effective operator of an associated Z-problem.\ Second, we show how the classical effective conductivity of an electrical network on a finite linear graph is essentially the effective operator of an associated Z-problem. Finally, we consider electrical networks on periodic linear graphs and develop a discrete analog to classical example of the periodic conductivity equation and effective conductivity in the continuum.