cturation model and the Political Economic model. Lastly, we will develop one particular model and discuss the types of questions and tools that can be used to predict political results and analyze political situations.
The United Nations defines political analysis as follows:
Political analysis looks at the structure of power relations and often-entrenched interests of different stakeholders that affect decision making and distributional outcomes. Political analysis is built on recognition that political interests underpin many areas of policy debate and economic reform, challenging assumptions about the "technical" nature of policy making (World Bank, 5).
Political analysis, at heart, involves a meticulous analysis of how power and influence is gained and used. Government, and politics, form an interrelated chain "of groups pressing one another, forming one another, and pushing out new groups and group representatives (the organs or agencies of government) to mediate the adjustments" (Bentley, 269). In order to gain an understanding of this process, one must isolate the activities of all of these diverse groups and determine their relative value to the whole political process.
This can be a challenging task due to the complexity of political situations. Government is composed of a large number of units of power, both in the public and private sectors, that are dispersed throughout the geography of a particular nation and throughout the political arena. These units are largely uncoordinated, they travel in their own prescribed orbits and come into contact with each other at the margins. It is in these margins, however, that the relationship between the various legislators, administrators, lobbyists, scholars, and other stakeholders in any common problem comes into play. These relationships, and interrelationships, are often the most important factors involved in the formation of public policy outcomes. Or, as a ...