17
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and the Author(s) 2018
K. Takeuchi et al. (eds.), Biofuels and Sustainability, Science for Sustainable
Societies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54895-9_3
Chapter 3
Stakeholder Perspective and Multilevel
Governance
Masahiro Matsuura and Hideaki Shiroyama
3.1 Stakeholder Perspectives
3.1.1 Defining Who the Stakeholders Are
In the field of public policy analysis, the concept of “stakeholders” has been widely
applied to a variety of policy-making efforts. In particular, the stakeholder concept
has been adopted in the shift of focus from the government to the governance. In
this context, traditional bureaucratic government structure endowed with the power
of “command and control” is regarded inefficient anymore in the democratic and
internationalized environment. Networked actors that undertake the functions previously performed by the government would replace the traditional structure. In this
new “governance”-focused system, stakeholders, instead of the government, undertake the public sector functions. In other words, stakeholders are the individuals and
organizations that actively participate in policy-making processes and take appropriate responsibilities of implementing the policies that they have agreed to.
The definition of stakeholders, however, has not been discussed much in the field
of public policy. The same concept is often represented by other terms such as
“actors” and “players.” In the field of corporate management, the definition of stakeholders was initially proposed R. E. Freeman, who is currently considered as the
pioneer in the field of stakeholder-focused management. He argues that stakeholders are those who have influence in decision-making and those who are influenced
M. Matsuura (*)
Graduate School of Governance Studies, Meiji University,
1-1 Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8301, Japan
e-mail: mmatsuura@meiji.ac.jp
H. Shiroyama
Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and the Author(s) 2018
K. Takeuchi et al. (eds.), Biofuels and Sustainability, Science for Sustainable
Societies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54895-9_3
Chapter 3
Stakeholder Perspective and Multilevel
Governance
Masahiro Matsuura and Hideaki Shiroyama
3.1 Stakeholder Perspectives
3.1.1 Defining Who the Stakeholders Are
In the field of public policy analysis, the concept of “stakeholders” has been widely
applied to a variety of policy-making efforts. In particular, the stakeholder concept
has been adopted in the shift of focus from the government to the governance. In
this context, traditional bureaucratic government structure endowed with the power
of “command and control” is regarded inefficient anymore in the democratic and
internationalized environment. Networked actors that undertake the functions previously performed by the government would replace the traditional structure. In this
new “governance”-focused system, stakeholders, instead of the government, undertake the public sector functions. In other words, stakeholders are the individuals and
organizations that actively participate in policy-making processes and take appropriate responsibilities of implementing the policies that they have agreed to.
The definition of stakeholders, however, has not been discussed much in the field
of public policy. The same concept is often represented by other terms such as
“actors” and “players.” In the field of corporate management, the definition of stakeholders was initially proposed R. E. Freeman, who is currently considered as the
pioneer in the field of stakeholder-focused management. He argues that stakeholders are those who have influence in decision-making and those who are influenced
M. Matsuura (*)
Graduate School of Governance Studies, Meiji University,
1-1 Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8301, Japan
e-mail: mmatsuura@meiji.ac.jp
H. Shiroyama
Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan