In recent years, a considerable development of the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) has occurred, but some of its parts remained open to investigation (e.g. Jones et al. 2016). One of these issues is the institutional configuration (level of integration) of a policy network (policy stream), which is the focus of our research paper. To explore this area, we offer a formalized operationalization to identify the integration of a policy network by using the policy network analysis. In pursuing this, we follow the logic given in the original Zahariadis’ conceptualization (Zahariadis & Allen 1995).
Our goal is to integrate the policy network analysis within the MSF, because it offers well-established procedures, allowing to measure the integration of a policy network in a more formalized way. This leads to an easier testing of relevant MSF’s assumptions and hypotheses.
To pursue this goal, we proceed as follows: First, we discuss the development of conceptualization of a network structure in the MSF with its crucial concept: the integration of policy networks. Then we propose the use of policy network analysis to operationalize this concept with its variables: size, mode, access, and capacity. Therefore, we introduce the tools of social network analysis and offer a detailed guide of how to apply this method in a quantitative way.
To illustrate our proposition empirically, we apply it to the recent policy of climate change in Germany and Japan, and test the MSF’s hypotheses concerning more and less integrated networks.
Our findings show that the German information exchange network is better connected than the Japanese one. Based on this frequent information exchange, German actors, regardless of their preferences toward policy instruments, share basic views, such as the existence of the climate change problem and the necessity for taking action.
At the same time, the camps of actors favoring more progressive measures have more capacity to connect different actors than their Japanese counterparts.
From these findings, we argue that it is possible to apply the formalized policy network analysis to MSF. We also suggest that the German network is more integrated and leads to more progressive institutionalized policy than in Japan.
We believe that the integration of policy network analysis within MSF can offer a more precise and formal operationalization of how to identify the integration of policy network. Moreover, it can also enlighten how to integrate a particular theory to a policy process framework.
