Methods and Best Practices in Multiple Streams Applications

Addressing the multiple streams framework’s (MSF) figurative language and lack of a joint terminology, this article develops a best practice for case studies testing the framework’s core hypothesis, which is: Agenda change becomes more likely if (a) a policy window opens, (b) the streams are ready for coupling, and (c) a policy entrepreneur promotes the agenda change. Based on an extensive literature review, the article introduces operationalizations for each of the framework’s key concepts (streams, policy window, and policy entrepreneur) and specifies what researchers must empirically observe if the MSF’s core hypothesis is met.