Global Kingdon? Ideas, Multiple Streams Theory, and Transnational Policy Actors

Published in 1984, John W. Kingdon’s Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies is a classic reading in policy studies that is most relevant for international social policy research. This paper systematically explores this book’s contribution to the analysis of the role of ideas in social policy before showing how Kingdon’s ideational approach and multiple-streams framework can help scholars shed new light on the involvement of transnational actors and processes in policy development. Looking carefully at Kingdon’s work, the paper explores his perspective on ideas while showing how it could help students of global social policy grasp the role of international organizations and other transnational actors in the global diffusion of “traveling ideas.”