The Multiple Streams Framework: Foundations, Refinements, and Empirical Applications

Policy dynamics and types of agency: From individual to collective patterns of action

“…A definition of different agency patterns according to the goals of mediation, innovation, and steering can be useful to clarify the conceptual confusion about the different agency types, which is also present in the literature on the main theories of the policy process, such as the multiple stream approach, punctuated equilibrium theory, the advocacy coalition framework, and the policy narrative framework (Weible & Sabatier, ). For example, entrepreneurs and political leaders are often overlapped, as in the multiple streams literature (Herweg et al., ) and as a strategic resource in the advocacy coalition framework (Jenkins‐Smith, Nohrstedt, Weible & Ingold, ). At the same time, policy narrative analysis shows how causal stories can be used to transform the reality of all types of actors to continue or change a policy, although it actually differentiates narrative strategies only according to the perception of being winners or losers, not according to the different motivations and goals of purposeful actors (Shanahan, Jones, McBeth & Radaelli, ).…”

Problems, politics, and policy streams in policy implementation

“…Kingdon's () multiple streams framework (MSF) is one of the most widely applied and researched theoretical frameworks of the policy process, and explains a wide variety of policy issues at national, supranational, and subnational levels (Herweg, Zahariadis, & Zohlnhofer, ). Although originally developed to examine agenda setting, scholars have expanded MSF to explain policy adoption, and some argue for its applicability to policy implementation.…”

“…Although originally developed to examine agenda setting, scholars have expanded MSF to explain policy adoption, and some argue for its applicability to policy implementation. Although highly interrelated with policymaking, policy implementation involves different goals, processes, mechanisms, actors, and relationships (Herweg et al, ; Hill & Hupe, ; Matland, ; Nakamura, ; Zahariadis, ). Consequently, applying MSF to policy implementation meets several challenges in reformulating conceptualizations of policy streams, windows, and entrepreneurs, which leads to limitations in current scholarship (Herweg et al, ).…”

“…Although highly interrelated with policymaking, policy implementation involves different goals, processes, mechanisms, actors, and relationships (Herweg et al, ; Hill & Hupe, ; Matland, ; Nakamura, ; Zahariadis, ). Consequently, applying MSF to policy implementation meets several challenges in reformulating conceptualizations of policy streams, windows, and entrepreneurs, which leads to limitations in current scholarship (Herweg et al, ). In fact, some scholars argue that effectively addressing policy implementation is a key area of future research for MSF, along with developing more testable hypotheses and connecting findings to democratic governance (Riddle, ; Sabatier, ; Zahariadis, ), although more recent developments alleviate some of these concerns (Herweg et al, ).…”

Who coupled which stream(s)? Policy entrepreneurship and innovation in the energy–water nexus in Gujarat, India

“…We address this gap by synthesizing the literature on policy entrepreneurship using the multiple streams framework (MSF; Kingdon, , ). Although the role of entrepreneurship has been highlighted within numerous theoretical perspectives, including incrementalism, institutionalism, advocacy coalition framework, and punctuated equilibrium (Bakir, ; Carter & Jacobs, ; Heikkila et al, ; Mintrom & Norman, ; Mintrom & Vergari, ; Nohrstedt, ), the MSF is an appropriate choice for this study as (a) recent studies associating distinct actors and their activities with each stream (Herweg, Huß, & Zohlnhöfer, ; Knaggård, ; Mukherjee & Howlett, ) facilitate more accurate conceptualization of entrepreneurs as well as their policy context within this framework; and, (b) its extension to other “stages” of policy making (Fowler, ; Herweg, Zahariadis, & Zohlnhöfer, ; Howlett, McConnell, & Perl, , , ; Zahariadis, ) permits examination of the role(s) of entrepreneurship throughout the policy process. The six‐stream variant of the MSF that we use, in particular, is useful for incorporating a broader array of entrepreneurial activities, including the influence of the bureaucracy and technological development in promoting policy innovation.…”