This Paper responds to calls for more theoretically driven advancements of the Multiple Streams Approach (MSA). It does so by developing the role of institutions within the MSA; a variable overlooked by Kingdon and the MSA literature. Specifically, the paper draws on the policy networks approach to further understanding of the dynamics of problem recognition within the MSA. The paper argues that policy networks – the riverbed over which the problem stream flows – can both facilitate and constrain problem recognition. The paper introduces two theoretically underpinned hypotheses. The first outlines the importance of compatibility for problem recognition; that a problem is more likely to be recognised as such if it is compatible with the ‘appreciative system’ of the policy network. The second hypothesis takes into account the typology of the network to highlight a network’s susceptibility to windows of opportunity in the problem stream. The validity of both hypotheses is demonstrated through a comparative analysis of two local level case studies of the quality of life agenda within the UK transport sector. The validity of the hypotheses has several implications for the MSA, notably reducing the level of fortuity and idiosyncrasy in the coupling of streams, and the potential for a problem to fade from the agenda for reasons not related to the issue itself.
