Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies - John Kingdon's Streams Model - Book Report/Review Example

KINGDON’S STREAMS MODEL Name Course Professor Institution Date Kingdon’s Streams Model Introduction John Kingdon’s streams model is one of the few solutions to public policy that scrutinizes the political system as a whole. In addition, it tends to embrace the relative significance of individual ideas, agents, institutions, as well as external processes. Other than commencing with stability, the policy streams approach of John Kingdon presumes continual change of policy. All the elements that are relevant to the process of policymaking shift and change, and eventually policy outcomes take place from the continual interplay. Kingdon's policy streams is as close to an adequate theory of public policy as has so far been surveyed in his arguments in the book, hence it is worth setting it out in detail (Howlett & Ramesh, 2003 pp53). The multiple streams model of John Kingdon tends to emphasize on the timing and flow of policy making as well as implementation. It takes a bigger picture viewpoint which is on the contrary to the other models that dwell on individual steps or the policy process components. John Kingdon’s stream model is valuable in the sense that it facilitates the understanding of the significance of context in terms of timing, political-climate, in addition to changing realities that must be addressed in the policy and agenda setting process. Basically, the model is principally valuable for understanding the agenda setting. This is based on the fact that why some issues are of high main concern and has concrete policy measures that are developed and why other issues are marginalized and focused on to a slighter scope, or not at all (Linder & Peters, 1989 pp56). In contemporary Australian policy examples, Kingdon’s Stream Model is important. The essay below seeks to provide a comprehensive description of John Kingdon’s streams model. Through his book “Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies”, Professor John Kingdon introduced a new approach of analyzing public policy decision making in 1984. John Kingdon established the theory that the timely convergence of “three streams” is what creates the force necessary to place a subject on the public policy agenda, to move it from the government agenda box to the decision agenda box, and to lead government finally to change public policy. The three streams include the problem stream, the policy stream, as well as the political stream. For instance, it is relevant to the policy decisions of every agency in the Australian government; theory of John Kingdon offers a principally useful prism for analysis of the political branches of the federal government (Kingdon, 1995 pp26). The policy streams approach rejoices the importance of ideas in public policy, although it also seeks to give details of how ideas materialize by their implementation and rejection by the many decision makers who get involved in the process. John Kingdon as well does an investigation on many of the other processes that are discussed in his arguments with regards to the streams mode, but he approaches them in the vibrant framework. As a result institutions are significant in shaping transformation and the development of policies as well as the policy problems. This is particularly based when they are highly patchy and give room for the flow of ideas (Cahn, 1997 pp158). Rather than ideas in public policy just reflecting power relationships, they start off from a number of dependent and often contradictory selection processes (Sabatier, 1988). Based on the three streams, problems are viewed as public matters that require attention. Examples of these may include fiscal crises or environmental deprivation, that mayor may not get defined as important or not. On the other hand, policies are regarded as proposals for change on the basis of accumulation of knowledge and development of interest among the experts in a policy sector. Some of the highly motivated people, the policy entrepreneurs, suggest solutions to policy problems. Afterwards, the policy entrepreneurs engage in mobilizing the opinion and institutions. They do this as they try to ensure the idea does not fall off the main agenda. The policy entrepreneurs can be bureaucrats, politicians, consultants, academics, analysts, as well as journalists. Finally, some of the political processes that may be involved include election results as well as swings in the popular mood. These processes tend to influence how the media together with other stakeholders in opinion formation define public problems and assess the potential solutions (John, 1998 pp162). In addition, it is worth to indicate that the political stream of the model is always developed based on the changes in administrations or the majority party in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Additionally, the changes can be in the election of new charismatic political officials, the retirement or the defeat of powerful legislators, the prevailing mood among the electorate, as well as public referenda. Generally, it is possible to include all of the above mentioned participants to specialize in either one or two streams. For instance, researchers, academics, as well as former or current bureaucrats come up with policies. On the other hand, the politically appointed or elected officials together with their political parties politically work together to view their favored proposals as they become law. It is possible for each act to support, prompt, scuttle, inhibit or rather undo the work of the others (Hood, 1983 pp75). In Australia, the Government forms an important body in proposing and implementing policies. After certain problems hit the people of Australia, it is the duty of the government to come up with policies that would help in addressing the problems so that the lives of the citizens are comfortable. In proposing the policies, the government tends to involve a number of stakeholders with regards to the type of the problem. For example, suppose the country is hit by a health problem, the government, through the health care sector always involve health professionals and health care institutions in coming up with a solution that would address the particular problem (John, 1998 pp80). Based on the Australian constitution, the government has a number of duties, roles and obligations that it has to follow to the latter. As earlier indicated, one of the duties of the government is to be part of coming up with relevant policies whenever a public problem is experienced in the country. In proposing and implementing policies, the Australian government will be protecting the welfare of the people of Australia. Other than the government, the legal system of Australia is another important system that is always involved in proposing policies with the aim of addressing public problems. For instance, it is worth noting that much scope is needed for policy making in the implementation process. In the effort of assisting in policy making and implementation, the legal system comes in handy in the translation of policy decisions into legislation. The translation of policy decisions into legislation is a compound process that involves legal judgment (Althaus, Bridgman, & Davis, 2007 pp167). Another group of people that are always involved in policy making in Australia are the politicians. Basically, other than the government, the politicians are viewed as the custodian of the common people of Australia on the ground. This includes those that are duly elected or the politically appointed officials. Therefore, whenever a public problem occurs on the Australian people, it is the duty of these persons to come up with ways of solving it. This is based on the provisions in the Australian constitution. In addition, the creation and adoption of several policies in Australia have relied on the three streams of the model. An example is the carbon-tax policy that was introduced by the federal government of Australia. Before this policy was put in place, there were rampant cases of environmental pollution within the country through carbon emissions. Based on the streams model, the problem stream is covered by the increased levels of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This largely contributed to environmental pollution, which needed attention. On the policies streams, various stakeholders came together and suggested the possible solutions in terms of polices for purposes of addressing the issue. Among them were environmental experts, environmental bodies and the federal governments of Australia. Finally on the political stream, the Australian federal government decided to enact the carbon-tax policy so as to contain the situation. In Australia, the forceful analysis of the development of social policy and the overseeing by the politicians can be found to be necessary. However, this is often neglected despite the fact that is forms part that makes sure there is policy success. In this case, part of the problem is based on the perspective that most politicians tend to lose interest after the main decisions have been arrived at. For instance, it is vital for all the policy makers including politicians to maintain the interest and support of relevant ministers in case they are required to champion a policy or rather offer added weight to the seriousness of implementation (Althaus, Bridgman, & Davis, 2007 pp45). Towards coming up with policies based on this model, there are a number of policy instruments that Australian government uses. These instruments are used as means of achieving the desired results in relation to the policy formation process. The policy instruments used in Australia include budgets, campaigns, staffing, programs, laws, as well as organizations. In the policy cycle, it is argued that the policy professionals are always asked to put the policy instruments to consideration. This is always after the professionals are sure about the goals and objectives of the process. Although the policy instruments are beneficial for the policy formation process, they have a number of weaknesses. With regards to the federal system of Australia, the policy instruments tend to differ across various jurisdictions. For instance, the Commonwealth possesses the powers and responsibilities that are not open to the states. The powers and responsibilities are exclusive access to essential revenue streams (Althaus, Bridgman, & Davis, 2007 pp86). With all the three processes in the model, Kingdon points out that each of the processes operates as a momentum or rather a constraint on the public policy. This is done by either putting a proposal on or off the main agenda. For instance, it is under the three streams in the model that makes a policy happen as a research task for Kingdon. In his argument regarding the approach, Kingdon points out those agendas do not form part of an automatic reflection of the power of all the contributors in the policy process. For instance, the process of policy formation is based as much on fate and possibility as on intention. While some of the aspects of the process are summarized by incrementalism, the eventuality of the connections between the streams can cause discontinuity or sudden change on the agenda (Cahn, 1997 pp143). The political stream exercises a controlling influence on agendas in the process. Some of the political factors comprise electoral trends, supporter interests as well as the dynamics of pressure group. For instance, the changing agendas influence policy selection through ripples of influence through policy systems (Kingdon, 1995 pp124). Based on the three streams, problems are regarded as public matters that require attention. Conversely, policies are considered to be proposals for change on the basis of accumulation of knowledge and development of interest among the experts in a policy sector. On the other hand, the political stream of the model is always established with regards to the changes in administrations or the majority party in the Senate and the House of Representatives. In Australia, there a number of stakeholders involved in the process of policy formation. For instance, the Government forms an imperative body in proposing and implementing policies. After the people of Australia face certain public problems, it is the duty of the government to come up with policies that would help in addressing the problems. As discussed, the dynamic analysis of the development of social policy and the overseeing by the politicians can be found to be necessary. In the policy formation process, it is argued that there are a number of policy instruments that the Australian government uses as means of achieving results from the process. Conclusion In conclusion, streams model by John Kingdon forms one of the few solutions to public policy that scrutinizes the political system as a whole. Additionally, it is worth noting that the model tends to embrace the relative significance of individual ideas, agents, institutions, as well as external processes. The model is based on three streams, which include the problem stream, the policy stream, as well as the political process. It is argued that this approach tends to highlight on the timing and flow of policy making as well as implementation. It takes a bigger picture viewpoint which is on the contrary to the other models that dwell on individual steps or the policy process components. Based on the above essay, the description of the streams model by John Kingdon has been done on the basis of contemporary Australian policy examples. List of References Althaus, C., Bridgman, P., & Davis, G 2007, The Australian Policy Handbook, Allen & Unwin ,. Cahn, 1997, Public Policy, Pearson, Boston. Hood, C 1983, The Tools of Government, Macmillan, London. Howlett, M., & Ramesh, M 2003, Studying public POolicy. Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems, Oxford University Press, Toronto. John, P 1998, Analyzing Public, PolicyPrinter, London. Kingdon, J 1995, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. New York: Longman. Linder, H., & Peters, G 1989, Instruments of Government: Perceptions and Contexts, Journal of Public Policy, 35-58. Sabatier, P 1988, An advocacy coalition framework of policy change and the role of policy-oriented, Policy Science , 129-168. Read More