Applying Kingdon’s Streams Model to Changes in Gun Policy

This teaching case study, based on Kingdon’s policy streams model, is designed for students in Public Affairs and courses focusing on the policy process, advocacy, or decision-making. It engages students with real-world policymaking complexities through gun policy analysis. Students often struggle to grasp the abstract nature of Kingdon’s three streams model—problems, policies, and politics—and how the streams converge to create policy windows. The fictional storyline of Part 1 addresses this pedagogical challenge by embedding theoretical concepts within relatable characters and scenarios, allowing students to follow policy entrepreneurs as they navigate institutional constraints, build coalitions, and respond to focusing events. The narrative approach enables students to grasp the complex, iterative dynamics of policymaking while cultivating understanding of diverse stakeholder positions in contentious debates. Part 2 offers teaching materials allowing students to trace gun policy evolution through concrete historical events, making the theoretical streams model tangible and demonstrating dynamic stream interactions over time.