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strength, or (in)effectiveness.
How is the problem framed and by whom?
Actors exercise power by being in control of setting agendas and
terms of engagement. Participatory and empowerment tools can help
balance the level of influence of all actors in the partnership.
What are actors’ key resources?
How does control over resources affect actors’ abilities to exercise
influence?
What are (resource) dependencies between actors?
Actors have different types and levels of access to and control over
resources (material, immaterial, legal, political, economic, social, and
institutional) that determine their influence and capacity to realize
their interests.
What are the rules and process for decision-making?
The institutional dimension of the partnership must be understood,
including how and by whom the rules are set and how they are
enforced, arbitrated, and sanctioned.
To what extent are different interests reflected in outcomes of
decision-making?
The decisions taken are an expression of the results of the power
dynamics in the partnership.
other options are available?
What is needed to strengthen the
influence of the least influential or
powerful? How can a genuine process
of empowerment be promoted?
How can interdependence at the level
of resource access and control be
realized? Which capacities of which
actors need to be strengthened?
What are the constraints in the
decision-making process? Can the
overall governance structure and
decision-making process be changed?
How can decision-making be organized
in order to benefit all actors and their
interests?
TOOL: Identifying Key Actors
Purpose: This tool can be adapted and used to identify actors who have influence over a particular
resource or the community’s overall ways of life.
Resource: Adapted from Stakeholder Power Analysis (IIED, 2005)
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Prepare a large bull’s eye diagram with several concentric circles (see Figure 8).
Seek agreement about the focus of the analysis, for example, a particular resource or the
community’s entire way of life and accompanying territory or area.
Facilitate a discussion to identify key actors (institutions, groups, or individuals) that affect the
resource or area. You could begin with identification of actors
within the community and then move to external actors.
Rank them according to power or degree of influence. This
could be done with numbers, icons, or different sizes of
paper.
Label them on the diagram. The ring closest to the center
represents the most influence and the outermost ring
represents the least influence.
Consider reflecting on the results by asking questions such as
what would happen if the role or influence of one of the key
actors changed drastically and how the community would
cope with the change.
As a variation, the same exercise could be done for different
timeframes such as the recent past and the future to gain a Figure 8: Example of a basic bull's
eye diagram
visual understanding of how key actors and roles have
changed over time.