The Multiple Streams Framework in the Context of China's Policy Agenda—An Examination and Refinement Based on the Policy of Special Food Safety in Online Sales

Abstract

Drawing on the policy agenda practice of the "Guidance on Compliance for Special Food Safety in Online Sales," this study aims to examine the applicability of the Multiple Streams Framework in the Chinese context and to make necessary refinements to it. The findings show that focusing events play a crucial role in the formation of the problem stream; decision-making bodies with clearly defined divisions of powers and responsibilities are the core driving force of the policy stream; and the push from interest groups, together with the ruling party's ideology, constitutes an indispensable key factor in the political stream. In addition, the three streams are intertwined and interactive with each other along the temporal dimension, with the political stream occupying a dominant position, while the media acts as a bridge that facilitates the interaction among the three. Notably, by opening a "policy window," Party and government leaders play a pivotal role in advancing the policy agenda, and the opening of this window possesses a certain inevitability, reflecting the urgency and irreversibility of temporality in the process of political mobilization and decision-making.