ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to provide a reader with some suggestions for beginning a mapping exercise by erring on the side of inclusion of actors and issues. The early analysts focused almost exclusively on the formulation stage of the policy process. During the twenty-first century the policy environment has experienced new forms of decision-making that have changed expectations about the way that decisions are made. A policy could involve states or provinces or regional bodies even if they are not obviously visible in the traditional political structure. The political structure that organizes the authority framework around an issue provides a way of identifying players. Policy environments ranged from stable relationships to highly turbulent settings in which advocates of different approaches could be expected to emerge in policy discussions. The differences in role between the original analysts and their clients seemed to be quite clear.
