Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-jtdwj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-26T12:56:10.761Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Integrating collaborative governance theory with the Advocacy Coalition Framework

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2018

Elizabeth A. Koebele Open the ORCID record for Elizabeth A. Koebele [Opens in a new window]
Elizabeth A. Koebele*
Affiliation:
Political Science Department, University of Nevada Reno, USA E-mail: ekoebele@unr.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

As collaborative governance processes continue to grow in popularity, practitioners and policy scholars alike can benefit from the development of methods to better analyse and evaluate them. This article develops one such method by demonstrating how collaborative governance theory can be integrated with the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to better explain coalition dynamics, policy-oriented learning and policy change in collaborative contexts. I offer three theoretical propositions that suggest alternate relationships among ACF variables under collaborative governance arrangements and illustrate these propositions using interview data from an original case study of a collaborative governance process in Colorado, USA. The integration of collaborative governance theory with the ACF improves its application in collaborative contexts and provides new theoretical insights into the study and practice of collaborative governance.

Keywords

Advocacy Coalition Frameworkcoalitionscollaborative governancepolicy changepolicy-oriented learning

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 35 - 64
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press, 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ananda, J. and Proctor, W. (2013) Collaborative Approaches to Water Management and Planning: An Institutional Perspective. Ecological Economics 86: 97–106.Google Scholar
Ansell, C. and Gash, A. (2008) Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 18(4): 543–571.Google Scholar
Auerbach, C. and Silverstein, L. B. (2003) Qualitative Data: An Introduction to Coding and Analysis. New York, NY: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, F. D., Jones, B. D. and Mortensen, P. B. (2014) Punctuated Equilibrium Theory: Explaining Stability and Change in Public Policymaking. In Sabatier P. A. and Weible C. M. (eds.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 59–103.Google Scholar
Biddle, J. C. and Koontz, T. M. (2014) Goal Specificity: A Proxy Measure for Improvements in Environmental Outcomes in Collaborative Governance. Journal of Environmental Management 145: 268–276.Google Scholar
Cairney, P. and Heikkila, T. (2014) A Comparison of Theories of the Policy Process. In Sabatier P. A. and Weible C. (eds.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 353–390.Google Scholar
Calanni, J. C., Siddiki, S. N., Weible, C. M. and Leach, W. D. (2015) Explaining Coordination in Collaborative Partnerships and Clarifying the Scope of the Belief Homophily Hypothesis. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 25(3): 901–927.Google Scholar
Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) (2016) The Interbasin Compact Committee and Basin Roundtables, http://cwcb.state.co.us/about-us/about-the-ibcc-brts/Pages/main.aspx (accessed 13 November 2016).Google Scholar
Conley, A. and Moote, M. A. (2003) Evaluating Collaborative Natural Resource Management. Society and Natural Resources 16(5): 371–386.Google Scholar
Conner, T. W, Nowlin, M. C, Rabovsky, T. and Ripberger, J. T (2016) Cultural Theory and Managerial Values: Examining Trust as a Motivation for Collaboration. Public Administration 94(4): 915–932.Google Scholar
Emerson, K. and Nabatchi, T. (2015) Collaborative Governance Regimes. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Emerson, K., Nabatchi, T. and Balogh, S. (2012) An Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 22(1): 1–29.Google Scholar
Fischer, M. (2014) Coalition Structures and Policy Change in a Consensus Democracy. Policy Studies Journal 42(3): 344–366.Google Scholar
Gastil, J., Knobloch, K. R, Kahan, D. and Braman, D. (2016) Participatory Policymaking Across Cultural Cognitive Divides: Two Tests of Cultural Biasing in Public Forum Design and Deliberation. Public Administration 94(4): 970–987.Google Scholar
Gerlak, A. K. and Heikkila, T. (2011) Building a Theory of Learning in Collaboratives: Evidence from the Everglades Restoration Program. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21(4): 619–644.Google Scholar
Gerlak, A. K., Heikkila, T. and Lubell, M. (2013) The Promise and Performance of Collaborative Governance. In Kamieniecki S. and Kraft M. E. (eds.), Oxford Handbook of U.S. Environmental Policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 413–434.Google Scholar
Gupta, K. (2012) Comparative Public Policy: Using the Comparative Method to Advance Our Understanding of the Policy Process. Policy Studies Journal 40(s1): 11–26.Google Scholar
Gupta, K. (2014) A Comparative Policy Analysis of Coalition Strategies: Case Studies of Nuclear Energy and Forest Management in India. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 16(4): 356–372.Google Scholar
Han, H., Swedlow, B. and Unger, D. (2014) Policy Advocacy Coalitions as Causes of Policy Change in China? Analyzing Evidence from Contemporary Environmental Politics. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 16(4): 313–334.Google Scholar
Heikkila, T. and Gerlak, A. K. (2013) Building a Conceptual Approach to Collective Learning: Lessons for Public Policy Scholars. Policy Studies Journal 41(3): 484–512.Google Scholar
Henry, A. D., Ingold, K., Nohrstedt, D. and Weible, C. M (2014) Policy Change in Comparative Contexts: Applying the Advocacy Coalition Framework Outside of Western Europe and North America. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 16(4): 299–312.Google Scholar
Henry, A. D., Lubell, M. and McCoy, M. (2011) Belief Systems and Social Capital as Drivers of Policy Network Structure: The Case of California Regional Planning. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21(3): 419–444.Google Scholar
Jenkins-Smith, H., Daniel Nohrstedt, C., Weible, C. M. and Sabatier, P. A. (2014a) The Advocacy Coalition Framework: Foundations, Evolution and Ongoing Research. In Sabatier P. A. and Weible C. (eds.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 184–217.Google Scholar
Jenkins-Smith, H., Silva, C. L., Gupta, K. and Ripberger, J. T. (2014b) Belief System Continuity and Change in Policy Advocacy Coalitions: Using Cultural Theory to Specify Belief Systems, Coalitions, and Sources of Change. Policy Studies Journal 42(4): 484–508.Google Scholar
Kenney, D. S. (2000) Arguing About Consensus: Examining the Case against Western Watershed Initiatives and Other Collaborative Groups Active in Natural Resources Management. Boulder, Colorado: Natural Resources Law Center.Google Scholar
Koebele, E. A. (2015) Assessing Outputs, Outcomes, and Barriers in Collaborative Water Governance: A Case Study. Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education 155(1): 63–72.Google Scholar
Koontz, T. M and Newig, J. (2014) From Planning to Implementation: Top-Down and Bottom-up Approaches for Collaborative Watershed Management. Policy Studies Journal 42(3): 416–442.Google Scholar
Koontz, T. M. (2005) We Finished the Plan, So Now What? Impacts of Collaborative Stakeholder Participation on Land Use Policy. Policy Studies Journal 33(3): 459–481.Google Scholar
Koontz, T. M. (2016) Back to the Future? Collaborative Environmental Governance Theory and Practice. In Margerum R. D. and Robinson C. J. (eds.), The Challenges of Collaboration in Environmental Governance: Barriers and Responses. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 54–80.Google Scholar
Koontz, T. M. and Thomas, C. W. (2006) What Do We Know and Need to Know About the Environmental Outcomes of Collaborative Management? Public Administration Review 66(s1): 111–121.Google Scholar
Korfmacher, K. S. (1998) Invisible Successes, Visible Failures: Paradoxes of Ecosystem Management in the Albemarle‐Pamlico Estuarine Study. Coastal Management 26(3): 191–211.Google Scholar
Leach, W. D. (2006) Collaborative Public Management and Democracy: Evidence from Western Watershed Partnerships. Public Administration Review 66(supplement): 100–110.Google Scholar
Leach, W. D. and Pelkey, N. W. (2001) Making Watershed Partnerships Work: A Review of the Empirical Literature. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 127(6): 378–385.Google Scholar
Leach, W. D. and Sabatier, P. A. (2005) To Trust an Adversary: Integrating Rational and Psychological Models of Collaborative Policymaking. American Political Science Review 99(4): 491–503.Google Scholar
Leach, W. D., Weible, C. M., Vince, S. R., Siddiki, S. N. and Calanni, J. C. (2014) Fostering Learning Through Collaboration: Knowledge Acquisition and Belief Change in Marine Aquaculture Partnerships. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 24(3): 591–622.Google Scholar
Lubell, M., Gerlak, A. and Heikkila, T. (2013) Calfed and Collaborative Watershed Management: Success Despite Failure. In Warner J. F., Van Buuren A. and Edelenbos J. (eds.), Making Space for the River: Governance Experiences with Multifunctional River Flood Management in the US and Europe. London: IWA Publishing, 63–78.Google Scholar
Mandarano, L. A. (2008) Evaluating Collaborative Environmental Planning Outputs and Outcomes: Restoring and Protecting Habitat and the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program. Journal of Planning Education and Research 24(4): 456–469.Google Scholar
Margerum, R. D. (2008) A Typology of Collaboration Efforts in Environmental Management. Environmental Management 41(4): 487–500.Google Scholar
Margerum, R. D. and Robinson, C. J. (2015) Collaborative Partnerships and the Challenges for Sustainable Water Management. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 12: 53–58.Google Scholar
Matti, S. and Sandström, A. (2011) The Rationale Determining Advocacy Coalitions: Examining Coordination Networks and Corresponding Beliefs. Policy Studies Journal 39(3): 385–410.Google Scholar
May, P. J. (1992) Policy Learning and Failure. Journal of Public Policy 12(4): 331–354.Google Scholar
Miles, M. B. and Huberman, M. A. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Moore, E. A. and Koontz, T. M. (2003) Research Note a Typology of Collaborative Watershed Groups: Citizen-Based, Agency-Based, and Mixed Partnerships. Society and Natural Resources 16(5): 451–460.Google Scholar
Muro, M. and Jeffrey, P. (2008) A Critical Review of the Theory and Application of Social Learning in Participatory Natural Resource Management Processes. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 51(3): 325–344.Google Scholar
Ostrom, E. (2007) Institutional Rational Choice: An Assessment of the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework. In Sabatier P. A. (ed.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 21–64.Google Scholar
Ostrom, E., Cox, M. and Schlager, E. (2014) An Assessment of the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and Introduction of the Social-Ecological Systems Framework. In Sabatier P. A. and Weible C. (eds.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 267–306.Google Scholar
Pierce, J. J., Peterson, H. L., Jones, M. D., Garrard, S. P. and Vu, T. (2017) There and Back Again: A Tale of the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Policy Studies Journal 45(S1): S13–S46.Google Scholar
Raadgever, G. T., Mostert, E. and Van de Giesen, N. C. (2012) Learning from Collaborative Research in Water Management Practice. Water Resources Management 26(11): 3251–3266.Google Scholar
Ripberger, J. T., Gupta, K., Silva, C. L. and Jenkins‐Smith, H. C. (2014) Cultural Theory and the Measurement of Deep Core Beliefs Within the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Policy Studies Journal 42(4): 509–527.Google Scholar
Rubin, H. J. and Rubin, I. S. (2005) Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data, 2nd ed. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Sabatier, P. A. (1988) An Advocacy Coalition Framework of Policy Change and the Role of Policy-Oriented Learning Therein. Policy Sciences 21(2–3): 129–168.Google Scholar
Sabatier, P. A., Focht, W., Lubell, M., Trachtenberg, Z., Vedlitz, A. and Matlock, M. (2005a) Collaborative Approaches to Watershed Management. In Sabatier P. A., Focht W., Lubell M., Trachtenberg Z., Vedlitz A. and Matlock M. (eds.), Swimming Upstream: Collaborative Approaches to Watershed Management. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 3–21.Google Scholar
Sabatier, P. A., Leach, W. D., Lubell, M. and Pelkey, N. W. (2005b) Theoretical Frameworks Explaining Partnership Success. In Sabatier P. A., Focht W., Lubell M., Trachtenberg Z., Vedlitz A. and Matlock M. (eds.), Swimming Upstream: Collaborative Approaches to Watershed Management. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 173–199.Google Scholar
Sabatier, P. A. and Weible, C. M. (2007) The Advocacy Coalition Framework: Innovation and Clarification. In Sabatier P. A. (ed.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 189–220.Google Scholar
Schlager, E. (2007) A Comparative Assessment of Policy Theories. In Sabatier P. A. (ed.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 293–319.Google Scholar
Scott, T. (2015) Does Collaboration Make Any Difference? Linking Collaborative Governance to Environmental Outcomes. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 34(3): 537–566.Google Scholar
Scott, T. A and Thomas, C. W (2017) Unpacking the Collaborative Toolbox: Why and When Do Public Managers Choose Collaborative Governance Strategies?. Policy Studies Journal 45(1): 191–214.Google Scholar
Siddiki, S. and Goel, S. (2015) Assessing Collaborative Policymaking Outcomes an Analysis of US Marine Aquaculture Partnerships. The American Review of Public Administration 47(2): 253–271.Google Scholar
Siddiki, S. N, Carboni, J. L, Koski, C. and Sadiq, A.-A. (2015) How Policy Rules Shape the Structure and Performance of Collaborative Governance Arrangements. Public Administration Review 75(4): 536–547.Google Scholar
Sotirov, M., Blum, M., Storch, S., Selter, A. and Schraml, U. (2016) Do Forest Policy Actors Learn Through Forward-Thinking? Conflict and Cooperation Relating to the Past, Present and Futures of Sustainable Forest Management in Germany. Forest Policy and Economics, 85(2): 256–268.Google Scholar
Sotirov, M. and Memmler, M. (2012) The Advocacy Coalition Framework in Natural Resource Policy Studies—Recent Experiences and Further Prospects. Forest Policy and Economics 16: 51–64.Google Scholar
Sotirov, M. and Winkel, G. (2016) Toward a Cognitive Theory of Shifting Coalitions and Policy Change: Linking the Advocacy Coalition Framework and Cultural Theory. Policy Sciences 49(2): 125–154.Google Scholar
Swedlow, B. (2014) Advancing Policy Theory With Cultural Theory: An Introduction to the Special Issue. Policy Studies Journal 42(4): 465–483.Google Scholar
Trachtenberg, Z. and Focht, W. (2005) Legitimacy and Watershed Collaborations: The Role of Public Participation. In Sabatier P. A., Focht W., Lubell M., Trachtenberg Z., Vedlitz A. and Matlock M. (eds.), Swimming Upstream: Collaborative Approaches to Watershed Management. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 53–82.Google Scholar
Ulibarri, N. (2015) Tracing Process to Performance of Collaborative Governance: A Comparative Case Study of Federal Hydropower Licensing. Policy Studies Journal 43(2): 283–308.Google Scholar
Weare, C., Lichterman, P. and Esparza, N. (2014) Collaboration and Culture: Organizational Culture and the Dynamics of Collaborative Policy Networks. Policy Studies Journal 42(4): 590–619.Google Scholar
Weible, C. M. (2008) Expert‐Based Information and Policy Subsystems: A Review and Synthesis. Policy Studies Journal 36(4): 615–635.Google Scholar
Weible, C. M., Heikkila, T. and Pierce, J. (2017) Understanding Rationales for Collaboration in High-Intensity Policy Conflicts. Journal of Public Policy; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0143814X16000301.Google Scholar
Weible, C. M., Hank Jenkins-Smith, C., Nohrstedt, D., Henry, A. D. and DeLeon, P. (2011) A Quarter Century of the Advocacy Coalition Framework: An Introduction to the Special Issue. Policy Studies Journal 39(3): 349–360.Google Scholar
Weible, C. M. and Nohrstedt, D. (2012) The Advocacy Coalition Framework: Coalitions, Learning and Policy Change. In Araral E., Fritzen S., Howlett M., Ramesh M. and Wu X. (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Public Policy. New York, NY: Routledge, 125–137.Google Scholar
Weible, C. M. and Sabatier, P. A. (2009) Coalitions, Science, and Belief Change: Comparing Adversarial and Collaborative Policy Subsystems. Policy Studies Journal 37(2): 195–212.Google Scholar
Weible, C. M., Sabatier, P. A. and McQueen, K. (2009) Themes and Variations: Taking Stock of the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Policy Studies Journal 37(1): 121–140.Google Scholar
Weible, C. M., Siddiki, S. N. and Pierce, J. J. (2011) Foes to Friends: Changing Contexts and Changing Intergroup Perceptions. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 13(5): 499–525.Google Scholar
Yin, R. K. (2003) Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar