A 3-part framework describing public policymaking processes. ![[Pasted image 20260421211808.png]][^1] - Problem stream - Indicators: data showing a condition's magnitude or change - [[Focusing event]]: sudden events that dramatize a problem - Problem broker: framing the problem in an effective, emotional, values-based way[^2] - Feedback from existing government programs - Policy stream - Policy communities / primeval soup: specialists generate and refine ideas - Softening up: repeated exposure, slowly moving the [[Overton window]] - Selection criteria: budget, technical feasibility, value acceptability - Policy entrepreneurs: actors who invest time, reputation and capital to promote policy changes. Elected officials, academics, think tanks, industry actors, activists - Politics stream - National mood - Organized political forces: industry, advocacy orgs - Government politics: elections, administration changes When a topic hits all 3 streams, a **policy window** opens, and policy entrepreneurs will often use that to push policy. [^1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_streams_framework [^2]: https://www.ippapublicpolicy.org/file/paper/1433956183.pdf