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The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems & Community Development's spring-summer 2024 issue features commentaries from the 2023 Agroecology Summit in the U.S. These commentaries challenge the dominant global industrial food system and emphasize the need for unity among progressives in the agroecology movement. The issue also includes open-call papers on various topics, such as college student food security, emergency food assistance, and agrihood development. The journal aims to promote a more equitable and resilient global food system by encouraging collaboration and finding common ground. [Extracted from the article]

One of the key objectives of the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) is to clarify the role of science in policymaking. As such, scientists can help inform science and technology policy decisions by providing information on the risks and benefits of a technology. There is also high demand for scientists to take an active role in policy debates, and policymakers often rely on scientific experts to help them make decisions on regulations. However, few empirical studies have focused on the establishment of coalitions and their impact on policy outputs, or on the role of scientists in these coalitions. This paper explores how the ACF can be applied to a policy subsystem by examining two nanotechnology regulation policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as cases. Drawing on 21 interviews with people involved in nanotechnology subsystems, this paper finds that there are two opposing advocacy groups in the nanotechnology policy subsystem, each with their own shared beliefs. The qualitative interview analysis suggests that the lineup of coalition members is stable over time, but the EPA exhibits less consistent positions. The interview data also show that despite many policy actors being involved in the nanotechnology policy process, there is a significant role for scientific information in the subsystem. The paper concludes with discussions of the role of science within the nanotechnology policy subsystem and the applicability of the ACF in various settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the interactions and cooperation between public-sector, business-sector, and civil-society stakeholders in developing British film policy for educational and cultural purposes. In particular, this paper adopts the Advocacy Coalition Framework to explain why and how public authorities, film industry organizations, and educationalists efficiently communicated and cooperated with each other in making the British Film Institute. By doing that, this paper explains (1) how commercial business and social workers, who were initially hostile, could build constructive partnerships; (2) how inactive, noninterventionist governments could be involved in the policymaking for cultural sectors; and (3) how private business could be persuaded into supporting cultural and educational policy for noncommercial purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using content analysis of more than 100 newspaper articles for each of the cases, the paper shows that regulatory policies do not face any easier messaging options than price-based policies. The role of crises in policy processes is manifold: Among other things, they can create new problems, provide windows of opportunity to solve existing problems, and change actor constellations in existing policy subsystems. The similar framing of different policy instruments leads to challenges for future linkages between policy designs and framing strategies. Like environmental policy, health policy is increasingly seeking to incorporate scientific research into public communication. [Extracted from the article]

This paper aims to understand coalition building between national and international actors in the context of an emerging subsystem. In applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework to the case of Uruguay, where a new field of social policy – the National Care System – was introduced in 2015 after a process involving different national actors from academia, civil society, politics, and administration, but also United Nations agencies, the paper explores the role of these international organizations in coalition building, and examines how a dominant coalition of national and international actors shaped the development of the new system. Using interview data and documents, the findings suggest that the involvement of international organizations in the coalition was based on shared beliefs and personal and institutional relationships. While powerful opposing coalitions were absent due to the nascent nature of the subsystem, the dominant coalition was able to influence the policy's introduction based on their beliefs regarding gender equality and rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Policy Analysis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Policy Studies Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Many theories and approaches to policy studies have recently begun to question and research how emotions interact with peoples' understanding and behaviors, especially in policy and politics. This paper builds on and contributes to studying emotions in policy and politics via the advocacy coalition framework (ACF). In applying Emotional‐Belief Analysis, this paper examines the legislative testimony on one of the US' first gender‐affirming care (GAC) bans. It shows that those testifying can be organized in competing advocacy coalitions with distinct emotion‐belief expressions in combination with deep core and policy core beliefs. Moreover, expressions of negative emotions and policy core beliefs display significant and the largest effects in explaining coalition affiliation and shared views of the bill banning GAC. The conclusion summarizes the paper's empirical themes with suggestions for incorporating emotions more into the ACF and the broader policy studies field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study unveils a unique case in the Paralympic Games through investigating the negotiation between the International Paralympic Committee and the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games for the change of the emblem of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games two years after its official release. Qualitative data is collected through interviews with senior personnel and archival documents and is analysed through employing the Advocacy Coalition Framework to highlight the change in the belief system of the two parties and the interaction between the policy subsystem and the broader political and social economic system. The findings reveal the shift in the belief system of respective Coalitions and the change in the power dynamics. The paper concludes with a discussion concerning the ACF's four pathways of policy change and a response to one of the questions that is raised in the ACF literature for further researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paul Sabatier's 1988 Policy Sciences paper, 'An advocacy coalition framework of policy change and the role of policy-oriented learning therein' (21:129-168), introduced the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) to the policy discipline. Over the past 30 years, the ACF has become a generalizable theory of policy change. Another feature is the ongoing critical self-assessment and revisions of the framework's theoretical and empirical assumptions. As a result, there have been many reviews of the ACF. However, the popularity of Sabatier's contribution and the most cited article in this journal is its wider significance beyond the ACF. A bibliometric analysis of 737 peer-reviewed publications citing this paper is undertaken. This is followed by a summary chronicling ACF reviews and scholarship comparing the ACF with other policy process theories and frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applied the advocacy coalition framework to explore and explain the political processes creating policies to enhance energy efficiency of European Union (EU) industry. The paper used legislation on energy audits and energy management systems as a proxy for EU policy on energy efficiency in industry. Based on qualitative text analysis of EU policy documents, including a proposal to recast the energy efficiency directive, amendments to the proposal suggested by Member States, the Council and the European Parliament, and reports from negotiations, the paper identified four advocacy coalitions with different core beliefs, spanning from those that want few companies to implement energy audits or energy management systems, and that recommendations from audits should not be mandatory to implement, to those that advocate that many companies implement energy audits and management systems and that it should be mandatory to implement measures recommended in audits. It was further found that policy change followed an external shock, deliberative negotiations, and policy-oriented learning. The identification of core beliefs and advocacy coalitions will help policymakers and other stakeholders become more aware of their own and others' values on energy efficiency and how these could be changed. As important was the differentiation of deep core beliefs, policy core beliefs and secondary beliefs. Which beliefs can be easily changed, which cannot? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While emotions are an inherent component of the human experience that influence behavior, values, and beliefs, they have largely been left out of policy process studies theoretically and methodologically. Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), with its focus on how individuals coalesce into coalitions around a set of common beliefs, we begin to situate emotions as a critical component of belief systems and discourse about public policies. This study analyzes legislative testimony from four policies debated during the 2021 Colorado Legislative Session using discourse analysis to identify the emotions and coalitional beliefs. We find that policy actors express emotions and beliefs similarly to other policy actors in the same coalition and differently from policy actors in the opposing coalition. We conclude this paper by discussing the theoretical and methodological contributions of including emotions in the ACF. The move to incorporate the analysis of emotional expressions, and hence the study of affect, into the ACF mirrors the ongoing incorporation of how people feel in politics and not just how they think. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Politische Vierteljahresschrift is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For different currents in policy analysis as policy networks and the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), identifying coalitions from policy beliefs and coordination between actors is crucial to a precise understanding of a policy process. Focusing particularly the relational dimension of ACF approaches linked with policy network analysis, determining policy subsystems from the actor collaborations and exchanges has recently begun offering fertile links with the network analysis. Studies in this way frequently apply Block Modeling and Community Detection (BMCD) strategies to define homogeneous political groups. However, the BMCD literature is growing quickly, using a wide variety of algorithms and interesting selection methods that are much more diverse than those used in the policy network analysis and particularly the ACF when this current focused on the collaboration networks before or after regarding the belief distance between actors. Identifying the best methodological option in a specific context can therefore be difficult and few ACF studies give an explicit justification. On the other hand, few BMCD publications offer a systematic comparison of real social networks and they are never applied to policy network datasets. This paper offers a new, relevant 5-Step selection method to reconcile advances in both the policy networks/ACF and BMCD. Using an application based on original African policy network data collected in Madagascar and Niger, we provide a useful set of practical recommendations for future ACF studies using policy network analysis: (i) the density and size of the policy network affect the identification process, (ii) the "best algorithm" can be rigorously determined by maximizing a novel indicator based on convergence and homogeneity between algorithm results, (iii) researchers need to be careful with missing data: they affect the results and imputation does not solve the problem. • Identifying policy coalitions is fundamental to understand a policy network. • Studies apply different strategies but identifying the best option can be difficult. • We offer a relevant and consistent 5-Step method by maximizing a novel indicator. • Further research need to be careful with missing data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The media represents a discursive site with actors trying to influence the discourse on a particular subject. The paper delves into an exploratory analysis of the policy discourse around climate change in India during the 2015 Paris Agreement by tapping into the data from the print media. Employing Discourse Network Analysis (DNA) and drawing theoretical insights from the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), the paper aims to highlight the dominant policy beliefs and the prominent actors in the Indian climate policy sphere. The findings exhibit a firm agreement on the scientific reality of climate change, along with a continued emphasis on the historical responsibility of the developed countries. The transition to renewable energy is widely accepted, but coal phase-out and sustenance of nuclear power is a contentious issue. The study uncovers a consistent belief system underlying the climate change discourse in India and the challenges in the path towards future energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: A series of Community Pharmacy Agreements (Agreements) between the Federal government and a pharmacy-owners' body, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) have been influential policy in Australian community pharmacy (CP) since 1990. While ostensibly to support the public's access and use of medicines, the core elements of the Agreements have been remuneration for dispensing and rules that limit the establishment of new pharmacies. Criticism has focused on the self-interest of pharmacy owners, the exclusion of other pharmacy stakeholders from the Agreement negotiations, the lack of transparency, and the impact on competition. The objective of this paper is to determine the true nature of the policy by examining the evolution of the CPA from a policy theory perspective. Methods: A qualitative evaluation of all seven Agreement documents and their impact was undertaken using policy theories including a linear policy development model, Multiple Streams Framework, Incremental Theory, the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the Theory of Economic Regulation, the Punctuated Equilibrium Framework, and Elite Theory. The Agreements were evaluated using four lenses: their objectives, evidentiary base, stakeholders and beneficiaries. Results: The PGA has acted as an elite organisation with long-standing influence on the policy's development and implementation. Notable has been the failure of other pharmacy stakeholders to establish broad-based advocacy coalitions in order to influence the Agreements. The incremental changes negotiated every 5 years to the core elements of the Agreements have supported the publics' access to medication, provided stability for the government, and security for existing pharmacy owners. Their impact on the evolution of pharmacists' scope of practice and through that, on the public's safe and appropriate use of medication, has been less clear. Conclusions: The Agreements can be characterised predominantly as industry policy benefiting pharmacy owners, rather than health policy. An emerging issue is whether incremental change will continue to be an adequate policy response to the social, political, and technological changes that are affecting health care, or whether policy disruption is likely to arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, international organisations and governments have issued mitigation policies, and (re)oriented broader policy strategies to respond to new problematisations about the future. In this context, the education ministers of the European Union (EU) adopted a Council Resolution on a new European agenda for adult learning 2021-2030. Drawing on the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), this paper examines the political mobilisation and agenda setting behind this Resolution through network ethnography and the analysis of belief systems. The findings point at an increased social dialogue, favoured by an 'uncommon' way - as by our informants - through which the Slovenian Ministry of Education pursued the agreed priority at EU level, while holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU. While visibility of adult learning rose under COVID-19, advocacy coalitions formed at national (Slovenian) and European level facilitated stronger alignment in agenda setting among different actors towards a holistic approach that calls for inter-sectorial and multi-stakeholder collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many policy systems are experimenting with collaborative institutions to manage complex policy problems in the face of persistent conflict and scientific uncertainty. Policy networks are central to the theory of why collaborative institutions are effective. While many policy systems naturally become segregated, fragmented, or siloed due to homophily, collaborative institutions are hypothesized to create more integrated systems of organizational collaboration. Collaborative institutions may, therefore, be evaluated by the extent to which they reduce the tendency toward homophily and increase the integration of policy networks. This paper evaluates three collaborative institutions in regional land‐use planning and specifies a theory of the program from two prominent frameworks: Institutional Collective Action and the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Results show that three forms of homophily are at work, and that in some cases, collaborative institutions successfully reduce the tendency toward network segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Transboundary sharing of river water is not just an international problem, it also cascades down to regional, state and local levels. Water cooperation in the Brahmaputra River basin among China, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh has long been contested. However, it is unclear how the four countries can cooperate and what the cornerstones for their cooperation might be. Aims: Better transboundary management of Brahmaputra requires a new direction from the current situation of fragmented cooperation, conflicts and disputes in the region and increasing threats of climate change. Methods: To explore possible consensus, we conducted an advocacy coalition assessment of the four countries on the basis of the heterogeneous ecosystem services valued by each nation. Key results: Whereas China and India are focused on politics, Bangladesh and Bhutan are primarily concerned about the basin in physical terms. Although each nation values the Brahmaputra in different ways, it is possible to initiate strong collaboration on the basis of shared beliefs. We found that hydropower-supported energy transitions for clean and affordable energy supply meet the needs and expectations of all nations, especially under the threats of climate change. Conclusions: A sustainable energy change coalition can help reduce carbon emissions, acquire green energy, irrigate land in dry seasons, and manage disasters and increasing runoffs from melting glaciers. We conclude our paper with insights for each nation and hydropower development as a whole that might help the nations manage the Brahmaputra River more sustainably by overcoming their unmatched or mismatched values and interest. Implications: Water in shared rivers can raise regional conflicts, but it does not have to if mismatched deep core beliefs among nations can be avoided through cooperation. Transboundary water management has often been obstructed by tensions among the different nation-states. Better transboundary management of Brahmaputra requires a new direction from the current situation of fragmented cooperation, conflicts and disputes among China, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and increasing threats of climate change. We find that hydropower-supported energy transitions for clean and affordable energy supply meet the needs and expectations of all nations, especially under the threats of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the role of military culture in defense policymaking. It focuses on Russia's post-Soviet civil–military relations and military reform attempts. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's armed forces were in a state of despair. Despite having relative institutional autonomy, the military neither made itself more effective before minister Serdyukov nor tried to overthrow the government. The paper uses the advocacy coalition framework's belief system approach to analyze data from military memoirs, parliamentary speeches, and 15 interviews. The research shows that the military's support for institutional autonomy, combined with its elites' self-serving bias, critically contributed to what I term an "imperfect equilibrium" in Russian civil–military relations: the military could not reform itself and fought back against radical, though necessary, changes imposed by civilian leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why does a state change its foreign policy objectives and who is responsible for instigating such change? According to Hermann, four primary change agents are central to this process: leaders, bureaucracies, changes in domestic constituencies, and external shocks. This paper argues that the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) is a complementary policy process framework that can explain foreign policy change (FPC) and that accounts for all four of these primary change agents. Additionally, it is a broader framework of the policy process that facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing FPC than traditional FPC research. The ACF has the potential to broaden our understanding of FPC by emphasizing the intersection of the international system with domestic politics and focusing on a myriad of policy actors coordinating their advocacy efforts to influence FPC. To support this argument, the paper discusses how FPC can benefit from the ACF and reviews past applications. It proposes a research agenda using the ACF to study FPC and draws conclusions about future challenges and directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Australian Journal of Political Science is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With the policy aim ‘Sport for all’ as a backdrop, this paper investigates sport policies for Sami sport in Sweden and Norway (the Sami is the indigenous people residing in the northern parts of Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden). By applying an Advocacy Coalition Framework, the purpose of the paper is to explore how the organisation of and possibilities to exercise Sami sport are affected by political coalitions, social structures and institutions. Drawing on data from policy documents and interviews with government and Sami Parliament representatives, results show how institutionalised relationships affect the general ambitions to provide sport for all and the more specific ambitions to reach under-represented groups. In both countries, dominant coalitions are made up by the institutionalised cooperation between the states’ Ministry of Culture and the umbrella sport organisations. Alternative and emerging coalitions are made up by the Sami sport organisations, the Sami Parliaments and the Sami policy units of the states. While the dominant coalition is stronger in Sweden, the alternative coalition is stronger in Norway. These differences are interpreted as being results of policy elements outside the policy subsystem of sport – the two countries’ different relationships to legal adoptions of indigenous rights. These findings suggest that approaching sport organisations outside dominant coalitions can be conducive in reaching sport for all ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper identifies the coalitions involved in the topic of shale oil and gas development in India and identifies the circumstances surrounding a change in policy in 2013 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to promote shale exploration. Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework as the theoretical lens, the data are collected primarily from newspaper articles from 2010 to 2015 to identify coalitions, including actors’ positions, priorities, and interactions. The findings show the presence of a dominant advocacy coalition in favor of shale oil and gas development with priorities about energy security and a regulatory framework. The findings indicate some internal coalition disagreement, but stronger internal coalition agreement. Policy change was preceded by a spike in disagreement internal to the dominant coalition. This paper shows how a change in a dominant coalition can precede a change in policy, offers a replicable method of identifying and measuring coalitions via newspaper content analysis, provides a rare application of the Advocacy Coalition Framework outside of North America and Western Europe, and provides evidence of support for shale oil and gas development in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (SOGICE) do not work. • Applying the advocacy coalition framework explains how scientists can and have influenced policy. • Cognitive and behavioral professionals are crucial to efforts to end SOGICE. • SOGICE continues today, and scientists must remain committed to advocacy for LGBTQIA+ people. After over 50 years of research and debate, the cognitive and behavioral scientific community has overwhelmingly condemned attempts to change a person's gender identity or sexuality. Despite evidence that conversion practices are ineffective and harmful, politicians debate the rights of LGBTQIA+ individuals while change efforts continue. Using the advocacy coalition framework, this paper discusses the influence of research, policy, and debate in the context of larger social and political change. As members of a policy advocacy coalition, cognitive and behavioral practitioners have the power to influence laws and other forms of policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The higher education system in Nepal has witnessed major achievements and challenges in the past few decades. This paper takes stock of the way the system has evolved and is now mismanaged, with a particular attention to the overall structure, financial management, quality control, and human resources that are central to fulfilling its societal promise. Given that these challenges have been a by-product of an evolving process of policy formation drawing from both global forces and local contexts, this analysis explains how the country has arrived at the current policy of "reluctant privatization" using path dependence and Advocacy Coalition Framework. Whereas the Government of Nepal is at a crossroads in reforming higher education, the insights from this analysis help students, researchers, and policymakers better understand the stakes involved and the potential fault lines that have occurred in its evolving historical context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ibero-Americana de Estudos em Educação is the property of Jose Luis Bizelli, editor of Revista Ibero-Americana de Estudos em Educacao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This review paper discusses the widely used policy analysis frameworks in sport. Given the lack of an established framework for the analysis of sport policy, many researchers have employed policy analysis methods from other disciplines. Methods: As the application of these policy frameworks in sport discourse analysis has never been discussed, this paper discusses they have been applied in sport policy analysis over the last years. A literature review method was used to identify relevant research for an overview of existing approaches. The homogeneous purposive sampling method was utilised to identify relevant articles. The discussion is limited to the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the Multiple Streams Framework, the Institutional Analysis, the Stage Model and the Policy Network Model. The advantages and disadvantages of the application of these models are debated. Results: The study identifies and appraises the applicability of these frameworks in sport. Conclusions: The importance of developing a unique framework for analysing sport policies has been emphasised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Policy Studies Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sea‐level rise is a "nascent subsystem" with policy actors actively developing initial policy preferences through participation across multiple policy forums in a polycentric system. This paper uses item‐response models to empirically analyze how actors, perceived problems, and preferred policy solutions are related in a latent "policy space". We focus on California's San Francisco Bay region, where in the last decade, sea‐level rise emerged to become one of the most salient climate adaptation issues. We find that actors and policy preferences are arranged in a two‐dimensional space, with highly engaged actors more likely to consider environmental justice and ecological aspects of sea level rise. Our findings have implications for theories of nascent subsystems within the Advocacy Coalition Framework, and for understanding how a local policy subsystem develops to address and prioritize the multi‐faceted impacts of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Policy Studies Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The integration of policy theories could help produce comprehensive understandings of the policy process and generate findings that challenge the boundaries of the policy sciences. To help promote policy theory integration, this paper reviewed and discussed the scientific benefits of publications that have integrated the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD), Multiple Streams Framework (MSF), Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), Epistemic Community (EC) and Instrument Constituency (IC) theories. It discovered that these publications are strongly focused on the integration of the MSF, ACF and EC theories. Some of the scientific benefits of integrating these theories include the discoveries that epistemic communities and instrument constituencies do not only support advocacy coalitions but can lead policy decision-making. Hence, researchers are encouraged to pay more attention to theory integration in the policy process scholarship. One question that needs further attention is: under what conditions do actors in one stream actively participate in another stream? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy implementation is a complex process and the theoretical problem has been approached in different ways for a long time. Perspectives have converged around governance, negotiation and adaptation and the learning perspective is increasingly acknowledged. This paper explores how policy implementation may be understood from a learning perspective, affected by universal tendencies for humans to draw biased conclusions from specific events. The Advocacy Coalition Framework is used as a point of reference when applying concepts of learning and decision-making biases and heuristics. From a set of three separate events of a continuous implementation of the 1994 LSS Act (The Act Concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments), empirical illustrations are forwarded based on both primary and secondary data sources. The paper contributes to the field of policy implementation, first of all, with authentic empirical representations of policy implementation as a learning process. Second, the paper supports the ACF learning tenets about the importance of actors, forums, conflicts, and stimuli. Thirdly, it indicates that ignoring the inherent human tendencies of biased decision- making may leave explanations and understanding of policy implementation incomplete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous scholars have noted the increase in negotiated agreements as a means of resolving utility regulatory disputes in the United States. These agreements allow policy actors to make their own decisions instead of receiving orders from a regulatory agency. Through a natural gas utility case study in the state of Utah, this paper examines the Advocacy Coalition Framework's (ACF) novel explanation of the conditions contributing to a negotiated agreement with the emergence of new energy efficiency programs. Using the ACF, coalition groupings are divided out as either those in favor of energy efficiency programs or those against that change. A content analysis explores the presence of the conditions leading to a negotiated agreement. This article finds that the ACF model provides a theoretical lens to understand negotiated agreements in utility regulation. While utility agreements resolving regulatory proceedings seem to only grow, more research opportunities exist for further study on the ACF and these outcomes in utility regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces social identity theory and self-categorization theory to policy process research. Drawing from the prominent and widely acknowledged psychological social identity approach, it develops the theoretical concept of social identities in the policy process (SIPP) and advances the understanding of policy actors' behavior. Compared to psychological foundations of existing theories of the policy process, the social identity approach emphasizes the importance of social group membership for forming common views on policy content and shaping policy actors' behavior as beneficial to the in-group. Policy actors thus act in accordance with their salient social identity. This salience is dependent on the strength of a social identity, determined by the feeling of belonging, positive evaluation, and emotional bond to a group. Additionally, social identities are moderated by internal and external factors. SIPP distinguish three levels of analysis, ranging from the psychological microlevel concerned with individual behavior and preferences, over the socio-psychological mesolevel of intra- and intergroup dynamics toward a macroperspective of general types of social identities. In policy subsystems, five such types appear relevant: organizational identities, local identities, sectoral identities, demographic identities, and informal identities. By integrating SIPP into the analytical categories of theories of the policy process, this paper calls for a future research agenda establishing a further theoretical lens for a better understanding of policy processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the vocabulary and frameworks offered by two theories of public policy process: the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) and the narrative policy framework (NPF) and what they offer to the study of global education reform. The foci of ACF are policy subsystems, formation of advocacy coalitions around policy issues, and their impact on policy change; the emphasis of NPF is the divergent narratives developed and used by these coalitions. This paper reviews each theoretical framework, summarizes existing research literature on their education policy applications, and then poses alternative questions and suggest alternatives to study global education policies, especially those presently critiqued using the term neoliberal which we position as nebulous in its current usage. The aim is to open channels of communication for scholars from different disciplines by introducing different theoretical approaches to analyse the role of the numerous elements that shape global education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European forest policymaking is shaped by progressing European integration, yet with notable ideological divisions and diverging interests among countries. This paper focuses on the coalitional politics of key environmental forest issues: biodiversity conservation, timber legality, and climate protection policy. Combining the Advocacy Coalition Framework and the Shifting Coalition Theory, and informed by more than 186 key informant interviews and 73 policy documents spanning a 20-year timeframe, we examine the evolution of coalitional forest politics in Europe. We find that the basic line-up has remained stable: an environmental coalition supporting EU environmental forest policy integration and a forest sector coalition mostly opposing it. Still, strategic alliances across these coalitions have occurred for specific policy issues which have resulted in a gradual establishment of an EU environmental forest policy. We conclude with discussion of our findings and provide suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest in and enthusiasm for shifting food systems to community-based and local trajectories have increased exponentially over the past decade. Part of the appeal of community-based local food systems is their potential to secure access to healthy food for local communities, expand sustainable farming practices, promote local food economies, and advance environmental and food justice. Interactions and collaborations within the spectrum of the food system's stakeholders--from farmers to local officials and organizations to local businesses and residents--are the cornerstone for effective food systems tailored to their community's needs. An increasing number of food system studies have applied stakeholder assessment approaches to map out complex situations among multiple stakeholder groups with different values and viewpoints regarding food system change. However, despite being an essential and influential political unit to target, counties have received very little attention in food system studies, as researchers and practitioners often focus on the federal and state levels of intervention to design food policies. This study examined the food system in Will County, Illinois, by applying the advocacy coalition framework and using a qualitative, semi-structured survey to engage a diverse set of stakeholders. The answers to the survey questions offered insights into three overlapping and divergent Will County stakeholder viewpoints (Pragmatic, Environmental and Food Justice Advocate, and Visionary), with the intent of informing and enacting food system transformation at the county level. The discussion within this paper focuses on coalition-building and collaboration between formal and informal groups to empower local communities to develop a distinctive food system identity that promotes community support, collaborative networks, and food justice at the county level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: This study explores the role of the public health advocacy coalition in alcohol policy development in Ireland. Compared with industry actors, much less is known about the membership, activities and influence of public health advocates in alcohol policymaking. To address this gap, this paper identifies several advocacy strategies, drawn from the advocacy coalition framework and other policy theories, and then analyses them in the context of recent Irish developments. Methods: The study used theory‐building process‐tracing to construct a record of the public health advocacy coalition and its campaign to promote the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 in Ireland. Specifically, we drew upon 131 primary documents produced by advocates, 464 newspaper articles and 18 semi‐structured interviews with key advocates, public health experts and elected officials to undertake a thematic analysis. Results: Public health advocates in Ireland have developed sophisticated political strategies to foster major alcohol policy change. First, public health advocates led the formation of a broad‐based advocacy coalition that helped members to effectively pool their limited resources as well as coordinate their strategy and messaging. Secondly, issue‐framing and message discipline played a key role in the coalition's success. Advocates strategically focused upon the policy problem, specifically health harms, rather than the detailed content of the proposed measures. Finally, there is evidence of political learning, where advocates' prior experiences and knowledge of the political system in Ireland spurred innovations in campaigning. These strategies were interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and succeeded in building support for public health advocates' preferred policies among politicians and the general public. Discussion/conclusion: There are distinct capabilities that public health actors can mobilize in the policy process to win alcohol policy debates and capitalize on the constraints on industry influence on alcohol policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Policy Studies Journal is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper draws on the advocacy coalition framework and uses content analysis to examine policy arguments and counterarguments over new legislation governing production, distribution and sale of alcohol in Malawi amidst growing concerns about alcohol-related public health problems and moral decay. We analyzed contents and claims reported in major newspapers (50 papers) and technical reports (2) spanning 2010–2013. Ironically, the findings of the study reveal the beverage industry in Malawi has proceeded by publicly endorsing the proposal for new legislation and openly backing the position of the pro-regulation coalition to restore ‘sanity’ to the nation. At the same time, leading actors in the beverage industry have artfully deployed a mixture of economic and nationalistic sentiments and argumentative crossovers to deflect policy narratives of opponents advocating for tighter alcohol legislation and depicting themselves as an earnest partner in the policy-making process; retaining for themselves a measure of credibility on the alcohol policy-making platform. The paper concludes by underscoring the contingent nature of policy argumentation and the role played by economic and cultural factors in shaping policy processes in Malawi. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]