21603 Chap.7 Multiple Streams Theory
Multiple Streams Theory
A theory about timing
Multiple Streams Theory, associated with Kingdon and Zahariadis, explains why an issue that has sat untouched for years can suddenly become law. It is one of the three Week 3 lenses for the Advocacy Contest Report, and students who choose it must ground their analysis in its required reading.
Problems, solutions and politics
The theory separates three flows.
Problems reach decision-makers through events, statistics and feedback on past policy. Solutions circulate among experts and advocates until one is judged workable and acceptable.
Politics covers the government of the day, party ideology and the public mood.
Windows and entrepreneurs
When those flows meet, a policy window opens, and policy entrepreneurs try to attach their favoured solution to the problem while the politics allow.
For advocates, the lesson is to prepare solutions early and watch for the moment, whether it comes from a crisis, from a critical review of an existing program or from a change in who holds power.
What this chapter covers
- 01
The problem stream
- 02
The policy stream
- 03
The politics stream
- 04
Policy windows
- 05
Policy entrepreneurs
- 06
The seven-step guided task
Worked example · free
Name the entrepreneur’s coupling moves in Port Arden
- 1Sending rescue data to the review panel worked the problem stream: it helped the official feedback describe the gap in the coalition’s terms.
- 1The costed plan, framed as a fix to the existing program and backed by clubs ready to deliver it, worked the policy stream: it showed the solution fits the current system and is technically feasible.
- 1Briefing backbenchers from the affected electorates worked the politics stream, building support inside the governing party before the decision.
- 1Releasing the plan on the day of tabling joined the three at the moment the window opened, which is the coupling an entrepreneur aims for.
Key terms
- Focusing Event
- A sudden, highly visible occurrence, such as a disaster, that draws public and political attention to a problem.
- Problem Stream
- The flow of conditions that citizens and officials want addressed, surfacing through events, indicators and policy feedback.
- Politics Stream
- The political context of a decision, including who governs, party ideology and the national mood.
- Problem Load
- The number of difficult issues already competing for decision-makers’ attention, which limits the focus any one issue receives.
Multiple Streams Theory FAQ
What are the three streams in Multiple Streams Theory?
The problem stream holds conditions people want fixed, the policy stream holds proposed solutions, and the politics stream holds the political context, such as who governs and the public mood. The theory treats them as largely independent until a policy entrepreneur links them during a window of opportunity.
What is a policy window?
It is a period when a decision on an issue becomes possible because a pressing problem, or a change in the political stream such as an election or a new leader, lets the streams come together. Windows can close quickly, so advocates need their solution ready beforehand.
Who counts as a policy entrepreneur?
Anyone who works to join a solution to a problem at a politically favourable moment: an individual advocate, a researcher, a minister, a public servant, a non-profit or a media organisation. Many may try in the same debate, but only one coupling ends up producing the policy that is adopted.
How do I use Multiple Streams Theory in the contest report?
Start from the required Week 3 reading, then take each stream in turn for your chosen issue with evidence, identify any window and the actors trying to couple the streams, and judge which stream was decisive. The subject’s guided task offers a seven-step sequence that can structure the analysis.
When is this theory a poor choice for my issue?
If the contest is mainly about rival groups with entrenched beliefs, the Advocacy Coalition Framework may explain more, and if it turns on how a group of people is portrayed, the Social Construction of Target Populations may fit better. Multiple Streams works best when the puzzle is why change happened at a particular time.
Assessment move
Choose one current Australian policy debate and keep a three-column log this week, one column per stream, adding a line whenever news, a report or a statement fits. Note any moment when a window seemed to open and who tried to use it. Then run the seven guided-task prompts on your log and write the one-sentence outcome.
If you are considering this lens for the contest report, compare your log with the evidence the other two theories would need before you commit. When you cannot tell which stream an item belongs to, ask Sia to explain the distinction using your own example.
Working through Multiple Streams Theory in 21603? Sia is AskSia’s AI Management tutor — ask any 21603 Multiple Streams Theory question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how 21603 is taught and assessed. Read this chapter free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.