The Engineers and the Bricoleur: alternative policy solutions in the Multiple Streams Framework. The Case of the Creation of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

I would like to submit the following abstract to the attention of the panel on "New Directions in Ambiguity Theory and Multiple Streams" This paper belongs to the field of theories of the Policy process and contributes to the literature on Ambiguity Theory and Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) by investigating the lock-in of alternative policy solutions before the decision-making process takes place. In the MSF, policy solutions are generally perceived to be mere ideas. The literature offers one major explanation of the development of ideas in the primeval soup: it involves Policy Entrepreneurs softening-up the policy community in order to promote their ideas. My contribution is to underline that policy entrepreneurs can be more than advocates with pet solutions; they can be Engineers developing policy solutions as their own initiatives, on the ground. This original perspective on the policy entrepreneur impacts how we consider decision-makers making sense of the primeval soup. In this paper I claim that Engineers’ solutions are likely to be integrated in decision-maker’s preferences because of their increasing returns after being tried in the field; however it does not preclude other ideas to make the final cut. Hence Engineers’ solutions have a non-detrimental advantage over simple ideas. The theoretical argument behind the claim is that in order to make sense of the primeval soup, decision-makers go through a process of learning, to develop their preferences. One specific type of learning is bricolage which underlines the idea of recombining different policy solutions. The bricoleurs are most likely to choose an Engineer’s “turn-key” solution, but has the possibility to recombine it with other ideas. Evidence comes from the case of the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control (ECDC) and its origins. Institutional creation is the moment when power is crystallised in a specific organizational choice. My process tracing of the creation of the ECDC shows that the institutional features are the result of a bricolage that combines the ideational contribution of some policy entrepreneurs with turnkey solutions developed anteriorly by Engineers. Evidence shows how the Engineers’ solution is praised for its feasibility while other contributing ideas are given currency for their value acceptability. The conclusions contribute to the enrichment of the Multiple Streams Framework by showing that a diversity of actors features in the Policy stream. It shows that while the concept of softening-up policy solutions is relevant to explain the lock-in of policy solutions, it does not unveil how rich the primeval soup can be.