What is a stakeholder?
Stakeholders are referred to as actors from society who have an interest (stake) in a specific policy issue.
3 Characteristics of a stakeholder:
1)Individual or organized group
2)Different actors may have a different perception of their own and each other’s stakes (stakes may change over time)
3) The number of stakeholders may change over time
Some factors that play a role in the increasing use of stakeholder groups are:
- Greater appreciation of the role that stakeholder knowledge may play in improving decisions
- the call for more democracy in the political process in order to improve decision making in terms of its legitimacy
Stakeholders are an asset to the community because these groups have a closer relationship with citizens than policy makers, and can provide another form of representation. However, this also makes it important to take a closer look at the composition of stakeholder groups and the negotiation process. Stakeholder groups contribute specific local expertise on decisions that will affect the entire community, so special care should be taken to include under represented groups.
SRIP Stakeholder Groups Overview | Home
Citations
Van de Kerkhof, M. 2006. “Making a Difference: On the Constraints of Consensus Building and the Relevance of Deliberation in Stakeholder Dialogues“. Policy Sciences, 39(3), 279-299. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25474300