Compare methods

	Stakeholder Analysis for Policy	Policy Network Analysis
Field	Public Policy	Public Policy
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	2009	1992
Originator	Management and development practice; typology synthesised by Reed and colleagues	R. A. W. Rhodes & David Marsh (British school); broader governance-network tradition
Type	Systematic analysis of actors affected by or affecting a policy	Analysis of inter-organisational policy relationships
Seminal source	Reed, M. S., Graves, A., Dandy, N., Posthumus, H., Hubacek, K., Morris, J., Prell, C., Quinn, C. H., & Stringer, L. C. (2009). Who's in and why? A typology of stakeholder analysis methods for natural resource management. Journal of Environmental Management, 90(5), 1933–1949.	Marsh, D., & Rhodes, R. A. W. (Eds.) (1992). Policy Networks in British Government. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN: 9780198278528
Aliases	Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholder Mapping, Interest-Influence Analysis	Policy Networks, Governance Network Analysis, Policy Network Approach
Related	4	4
Summary	Stakeholder analysis is a systematic approach to identifying the individuals, groups and organisations affected by or able to affect a policy or program, characterising their interests and influence, and understanding the relationships among them. Reed and colleagues' influential 2009 typology organises the field into three tasks: identifying stakeholders, differentiating and categorising them, and investigating their relationships. The aim is to inform the design, implementation and evaluation of policy by clarifying whose interests are at stake, who holds power, and how to engage them — improving both the effectiveness and the legitimacy of decisions.	Policy network analysis examines policymaking as the product of relationships among interdependent actors — government agencies, interest groups, experts and others — who exchange resources such as information, money, legitimacy and authority. In the influential British tradition associated with R. A. W. Rhodes and David Marsh, policy networks range along a continuum from tightly knit, exclusive 'policy communities' to loose, open 'issue networks', and the type of network is held to shape policy outcomes. More broadly, the approach applies the concepts and tools of social-network analysis to governance, treating the structure of ties among actors as a key explanatory variable.