European Policy Analysis Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2016 | Page 196

European Policy Analysis - Volume 2, Number 1 - Spring 2016

Juggling Multiple Networks in Multiple Streams
Evelyne de Leeuw,A Marjan HoeijmakersB & Dorothee T.J.M. PetersC
This paper suggests a new conceptual gaze at theorizing the policy process.
Alternating between practical, empirical, and theoretical perspectives, we
describe how the hybridization of Multiple Streams, Policy Network, and Frame
theories leads to a juggling metaphor to describe the process. From the initiation
of this research program, we found that the information our research yielded
was vastly more complex and dynamic than what is generally reported in similar
research. In particular we discovered that dynamic interactions between actors
in the different (policy, problem, and politics) streams, when appraised through
a policy network lens, produce different network configurations in each stream.
We also found that Kingdon’s “Policy entrepreneurs” are likely to engage more
in shaping the problem stream network configuration (through the process
Kingdon labels “alternative specification”—which requires great perspicacity
with words) than in the other streams. We therefore postulate that hybridization
of policy network theory with Multiple Streams theory would create a more
powerful conceptual toolbox. This toolbox can be enhanced further by insights
from network management conceptualisations and frame theory. Finally, we
have embraced the criticism that has been voiced of the stages heuristic and
proposes that a more useful metaphor for policy processes is juggling: those
processes may appear chaotic, but keen discipline, coordination, and acuity are
required for policy students and operators to keep all balls in the air.
Keywords: Networks, multiple streams, theory, policy process, health

Introduction

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