Policy analysis and decision making in a network: how to improve the quality of analysis and the impact on decision making

Abstract

In a network, parties have different interests and are interdependent. This hampers collective decision making. If, in such a network, a policy analysis is made to support the decision making, the findings from this analysis are likely to lack authority. For a policy analysis to be authoritative and to contribute to collective decision making, a process of interaction between the analyst and the parties concerned should be organized. This is called process management. This article presents a number of guidelines for such a process. They are based on two case studies into the use of policy analysis in networks.