Stakeholder analysis

Stakeholder analysis is the process of identifying and deciding how to involve stakeholders in consultation and participation processes.

Identifying stakeholders is based on analysing the issues involved in any project and understanding who is or will be affected by them.

Stakeholder analysis is important to ensure both that all points of view are represented in a process, and that no particular point of view is allowed to dominate.

While stakeholder processes are not democratic, in the sense that stakeholders are not elected to participate, their intention is always to enhance democratic processes by providing opportunities for those most affected by issues to influence decisions about them.