Multiple Streams Theory Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

John Kingdon’s (1995) multiple streams framework, which first emerged in the mid-1980s, is a model for understanding public policy agenda setting. Agenda setting is one of the stages of public policy process, even if “stagists” are criticized. Ever since Harold Lasswell’s propositions of the 1950s, numerous authors have suggested various possible stages. In Vincent Lemieux’s (2002) view, there are three recurring subprocesses: agenda setting, formulation, and implementation, with evaluation being more of a metaprocess.

Kingdon proposed a theoretical response to two questions often raised by those who wish to understand the process of setting public policy agendas: What shapes the emergence of certain ideas over others? And why are certain ideas used by governments to formulate public policies, and not others? To answer these questions, Kingdon used an approach defined by three streams. The framework was inspired by the “garbage can” model, in particular by the decision-making processes of organized anarchies, which are organizations characterized by problematic preferences, unclear technology, and fluid participation. According to Kingdon, public policies emerge when policy entrepreneurs seize windows of opportunity to couple a problem stream with a political stream. The policy stream is also present, but it is loosely coupled with the other two streams. Without this coupling, no policy can emerge. Problems remain unresolved; solutions may exist or be promoted by various stakeholders, but there is no receptivity to them. The national mood or current ideas cannot be capitalized on, because there are no recognized problems or solutions.

But when a window of opportunity appears in the problem or policy streams, a policy entrepreneur will do everything possible to couple these streams in order for a public policy to emerge. Problem solving is not utopian, as there must be known solutions for it to be possible, and so this third stream is not of secondary importance. Entrepreneurs may emerge from any of the streams, depending on the situation and the degree to which a certain stream predominates. Kingdon also states that the occurrence of a window of opportunity in a given area may increase the probability of another window opening in a related area. This is the concept of “spillovers.” There is no longer any need to demonstrate the heuristic value of the framework or its related concepts.

However, the framework has only been validated in the context of wealthy countries for setting the agendas of national and international policies. Although policy implementation has been studied for thirty years now, few scholars have attempted to examine it using Kingdon’s framework. Extending this interpretation, Lemieux (2002) suggests that while the policy formulation stage involves coupling the policy stream with the political stream, implementation involves coupling the policy stream with the problem stream. In both cases, the third stream, that is, the politics stream, is always present but is loosely coupled. Although the scientific relevance and theoretical value of this extension have been demonstrated, they have only been empirically validated once in Canada.

In order to verify the proposition coming from the extension of the stream framework to understand an implementation gap in West Africa, a case study has been done in Burkina Faso. Empirical data confirm that the extension of Kingdon’s multiple streams framework has been productive in explaining the failed implementation of a health policy in Africa. Although more empirical research needs to be done in order to definitively validate this theoretical extension, some research propositions have emerged from the study:

Implementation of a public policy depends primarily on a coupling of the problem stream with the policy stream.
If implementation does result from a coupling of the problem and policy streams, it can be completely successful only if the political stream is favorable to it.
Institutions play an essential role in the political stream of public policies when policy agenda setting and formulation are international in origin.
The occurrence and seizing of opportunities in order to find solutions to problems is a necessary but insufficient condition for successful implementation.

Bibliography:

Cohen, M. D., J. G. March, and J. P. Olsen. “A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice.” Administrative Science Quarterly 17, no. 1 (1972): 1–25.
Demers, L., and V. Lemieux. “La politique québécoise de désengorgement des urgences.” Canadian Public Administration 41, no. 4 (1998): 501–528.
Exworthy, M., and M. Powell. “Big Windows and Little Windows: Implementation in the ‘Congested State.’” Public Administration 82, no. 2 (2004): 263–281.
Kingdon, J.W. Agendas, Alternatives and Publics Policies. 2nd ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1995.
Lemieux,V. L’étude des politiques publiques, les acteurs et leur pouvoir. 2nd ed. Québec: Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 2002.
Pülzi, H., and O. Treib. “Implementing Public Policy.” In Handbook of Public Policy Analysis:Theory, Politics, and Methods. Edited by F. Fischer, G. J. Gerald, J. Miller, and M. S. Sidney. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2007.
Ridde V. “Policy Implementation in an African State: An Extension of Kingdon’s Multiple-Streams Approach.” Public Administration 87, no. 4 (2009): 938–954.
“The Problem of the Worst-Off Is Dealt with after All Other Issues: The Equity and Health Policy Implementation Gap in Burkina Faso.” Social Science and Medicine 66 (2008): 1368–1378.
Sabatier, Paul A. “Fostering the Development of Policy Theory.” In Theories of the Policy Process, 2nd ed. Edited by Paul A. Sabatier. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2007.
Zahariadis, N. “Ambiguity,Times and Multiple Streams.” In Theories of the Policy Process. Edited by P. A. Sabatier. Boulder, Colo.:Westview Press, 1999.

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