Document Abstract
Published:
2006
Mapping political context: a toolkit for civil society organisations
How to understand the political context of policy processes?
This toolkit describes a range of tools that civil society organisations (CSOs) might use to understand and map political context, in order to engage more effectively in policy processes.
It introduces a series of tools that have been designed to map various dimensions of political context. The tools have been selected because they cover a wide variety of political dimensions. As such, they provide a menu of different approaches to mapping political context.
Some of the tools take the nation-state as the unit of analysis; others can be applied at any scale. Some tools focus on the mapping of power, others on the mapping of institutions, organisations and stakeholders. Some tools focus on formal institutions; others look to map informal institutions too.
The tools selected also cover a great deal of ground in terms of the approach they take. Some of the tools are clearly normative, others strive for objectivity. Some work with qualitative data, others with quantitative. Some of the tools can be used quickly and inexpensively, others require large inputs of time and resources. Some are designed with a very specific purpose in mind, others are not. Some enable cross-country comparisons, others do not.
In deciding which tool(s) to use, the authors say, CSOs need to think carefully about the sort of mapping they are interested in. For instance, do they want to produce comparable maps of different contexts, or will a detailed map of one context be adequate for their purposes?
Each tool is presented as follows.
The third section is structured in terms of three aspects for each tool.
It introduces a series of tools that have been designed to map various dimensions of political context. The tools have been selected because they cover a wide variety of political dimensions. As such, they provide a menu of different approaches to mapping political context.
Some of the tools take the nation-state as the unit of analysis; others can be applied at any scale. Some tools focus on the mapping of power, others on the mapping of institutions, organisations and stakeholders. Some tools focus on formal institutions; others look to map informal institutions too.
The tools selected also cover a great deal of ground in terms of the approach they take. Some of the tools are clearly normative, others strive for objectivity. Some work with qualitative data, others with quantitative. Some of the tools can be used quickly and inexpensively, others require large inputs of time and resources. Some are designed with a very specific purpose in mind, others are not. Some enable cross-country comparisons, others do not.
In deciding which tool(s) to use, the authors say, CSOs need to think carefully about the sort of mapping they are interested in. For instance, do they want to produce comparable maps of different contexts, or will a detailed map of one context be adequate for their purposes?
Each tool is presented as follows.
- a description of the tool
- a brief outline of how the tool works
- elements of the tool that might be of particular interest to CSOs
The third section is structured in terms of three aspects for each tool.
- the conceptual approach and indicators;
- the methods employed for sourcing and collecting data; and
- the ways in which the tool works in terms of analysing data, presenting results, and recommending action.
[Adapted from author]
