Policy Window Theory

CORE DEFINITION

John Kingdon's multiple streams framework holds that the policy agenda is shaped by three relatively independent streams: the problem stream, issues recognized as urgent; the policy stream, feasible solutions developed by specialists; and the politics stream, the national mood, elections, and ideology. Ordinarily the streams run separately. When a policy entrepreneur couples them, often through a crisis or focusing event, a brief window opens and change becomes possible. The core claim is that a good solution is not sufficient, since timing and political conditions decide adoption. The qualification is that windows are short and unpredictable, so the solution must already exist.