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Policy analysis is a broad and versatile field of applied policy research and advice, where a multitude of perspectives and methods have developed. In this paper, we attempt to (re)structure the discipline in a single conceptual model. The model was derived on the basis of a review of relevant literature on policy analysis styles and a review of about 20 exemplary cases in the field of technology, policy and management. The model serves three purposes: understanding of policy analysis as a discipline, contribution to the design of new policy analysis methods and projects, and guidance for evaluating such methods and projects. The model identifies six activities and translates these into six underlying policy analytic styles. Each style implies different values, and calls for different criteria when it comes to evaluation. An important claim of the model is that, in practice, policy analysis consists of creatively combining these activities and styles.

In this article we propose a framework which can assist analysts in their reflection on the requirements for a participatory modelling exercise in natural resource management. Firstly, we distinguish different types of formal models which may be developed, ranging from models that focus on (bio)physical mechanisms to models which also include the actors involved in the utilisation of the resource and the social mechanisms that co-determine actor behaviour. Secondly, we consider what different modes of stakeholder participation entail for model construction and use. Finally, we propose six different purposes for a modelling exercise (clarify arguments and values, research and analyse, design and recommend, provide strategic advice, mediate, and democratise), and highlight conditions that affect the appropriateness of stakeholder participation for each purpose. The framework does not provide a straightforward recipe for the selection of participatory modelling methods, but we expect that the systematic reflection it affords will help analysts to make appropriate choices while designing a modelling exercise.

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