ERIC Number: ED574663
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Dec
Pages: 35
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Moving towards an Integrated Theory of Policy Networks: A Multi-Theoretical Approach for Examining State-Level Policy Change in U.S. Subsystems. Working Paper #45
Galey, Sarah; Youngs, Peter
Education Policy Center at Michigan State University
Scholars have developed a wide range of theories to explain both stability and change in policy subsystems. In recent years, a burgeoning literature has emerged that focuses on the application of network analysis in policy research, more formally known as Policy Network Analysis (PNA). This approach, while still developing, has great potential as an integrated theoretical framework that brings together multiple theories under a single conceptual paradigm. In this paper, the authors demonstrate how the insights of three other established policy theories--namely, the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), Punctuated-Equilibrium theory (PET), and the Policy Entrepreneur Model (PEM)--may be augmented under a synthesis theory of policy networks to provide a more conceptually coherent theory of policymaking that may be useful for explaining periods of both stability and change.
Descriptors: Educational Policy, State Policy, Policy Formation, Network Analysis, Theories, Networks, Advocacy, Governance, Entrepreneurship, Political Influences, Decision Making, Feedback (Response)
Education Policy Center. Michigan State University, 201 Erickson Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824-1034. Tel: 517-355-4494; Fax: 517-432-6202; e-mail: EPC@msu.edu; Web site: http://education.msu.edu/epc
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Michigan State University, Education Policy Center
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A