Policy stakeholders

2022-2023

Irina Khayrizamanova, Phd

Index of the session
1. Type of actors
2. Group work
3. Type of actors. Triangle of actors
“Policy is a series of decisions or activities resulting from
structured and recurrect interactions between different
actors, both public and private, who are involved in different
ways in the emergence, identification and resolution of a
problem defined politically as a public one” (Knoepfel et al,
2007:39)
“Democracy is a competitive political system in which
competing leaders and organizations define the alternatives
of public policy in such a way that the public can participate
in the decisión -making” (Schattschneider: 1960)
Types of public policy actors?
Differences?

Actor v. non-actor
Agent v. real actor
 An individual
 Several individuals
 A legal entity
 A social group (Knoepfel et al, 2007)

Requirement for a collective actor?

-common approach, values, interests, objectives
regarding the collective/public problem

What is “public is often taken for granted

“Empirical actors” (Friegberg, 1993)

Agent v. a true actor

Advantages/disadvantages of this broad approach

to actorness?
Actors vary in
 Visibility
 Awareness of their interests
 Resources and capacity to mobilize resources
 Capacity to form coalitions (internal organization)
 Their strategic decision (action v. non.action)

(Knoepfel et al. 2007).

Group work (teach and learn)
 How do you understand the concepts of “the intentionality
of individual action”

 “areas of uncertainty” (Crozier, 1963)

 Horizontal and vertical coordination of actors

 Who are the policy stakeholders? Any classification?

 What resources do the public and private actors have?

Menti.com
Figure. Typology of actor organization and definition of
public problems

(Shannon, 2003)
Knoepfel (2007)
Types of actors
 Public actors –political-administrative actors
(parliament, government, administrative and
legal institutions)
(public authority to structure any sector of
society trough decisions of authoritarian
nature”)

Reciprocal interactions
public actors and
subsystems

“societal” State
demands actions –
– inputs outputs
Types of actors

 Private actors (socio-economic, socio-cultural

spheres) are further subdivided into?

(Knoepfel et al.2007)
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Actors-triangle-particulates-
actors-were-added-in-red-modified-Knoepfel-et-al-
2007_fig1_336012322
 Stakeholders can be defined as the individuals or groups
that are affected by the introduction of a policy.
Private Sector Public Sector Stakeholders Civil Society
Stakeholders Stakeholder

Corporations and Ministers and advisors (executive) Media

businesses Civil servants and departments Churches/Religion
Business associations (bureaucracy) Schools and
Professional bodies Elected representatives Universities
Individual business (Legislature Social movements and
leader Courts (Judiciary) advocacy
Financial Institutions Political parties groups
Local governments/councils Trade unions
Military National NGOs
International bodies (World Bank, International NGOs
UN)

(ODI, 2009)
Identify the key stakeholders and map them onto the
power-interest grid.

(Eden, Ackerman 2021)

A stakeholder map.
(Adapted from: Eden & Ackermann,1998)
Case study: renewable energy target
(Switzerland) (Haelg et al, 2019).
Case study: renewable energy target
(Switzerland) (Haelg et al, 2019).
References
 Eden, C. & Ackermann, F. 1998. Making strategy: the
journey of strategic management. London: Sage
Publications.
 Haelg, L., Sewerin, S. & Schmidt, T.S. The role of actors
in the policy design process: introducing design coalitions
to explain policy output. Policy Sci 53, 309–347 (2020).
 Knoepfel, Peter, et al (2007). Public policy analysis,
Policy Press. ( Chapter 3: pp.39-61).
 ODI. 2009. Planning tools: stakeholder analysis.
Available: https://www.odi.org/publications/5257-
stakeholder-analysis [2019, 24 May].
 Schattschneider, E.E. (1960). The semi-sovereign
people: a realist's view of democracy in America.
Hinsdale, Ill. The Dryden Press.