Compare methods

	Punctuated Equilibrium Analysis	Multiple Streams Analysis
Field	Public Policy	Public Policy
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1993	1984
Originator	Frank Baumgartner & Bryan Jones	John W. Kingdon
Type	Theory of the policy process	Theory of agenda setting and the policy process
Seminal source	Baumgartner, F. R., & Jones, B. D. (1993). Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 9780226039398	Kingdon, J. W. (1984). Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. New York: Longman. ISBN: 9780321121851
Aliases	PET, Punctuated Equilibrium Theory, Baumgartner-Jones Theory	MSF, Multiple Streams Framework, Kingdon Multiple Streams, Policy Windows Analysis
Related	4	4
Summary	Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET), developed by Frank Baumgartner and Bryan Jones in their 1993 book Agendas and Instability in American Politics, explains how policymaking is characterised by long periods of stability and incremental change interrupted by brief, dramatic bursts of major change. Borrowing the metaphor from evolutionary biology, it argues that the way an issue is understood (its 'policy image') and the institutional 'venue' in which it is handled normally reinforce a stable equilibrium — until attention shifts, the image is reframed, and rapid, large-scale change punctuates the calm.	The Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) is a theory of agenda setting and policy change developed by John Kingdon in his 1984 book Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. It explains why some issues rise to prominence and some solutions are adopted while others languish, by modelling the policy process as three largely independent 'streams' — problems, policies, and politics — that flow through the system. Change becomes possible when these streams are joined together at a fleeting 'policy window', often through the efforts of a 'policy entrepreneur'. The framework emphasises ambiguity, timing and chance over orderly, rational problem-solving.