Scaling up policy entrepreneurship strategies from the local to the national level: the unlikely rise of basic income from agenda universe to decision agenda

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introducing Universal Basic Income (UBI) at the official agenda-setting is rare, although not a completely unlikely occurrence. Although policy entrepreneurs can strongly push this agenda, whether their efforts are successful depends on their specific strategies as well as the contextual institutional features where their actions take place. This study aims to investigate why UBI proposals have risen to the point of becoming a national-level presidential pledge in South Korea during the 2022 elections. Using the theoretical frame of Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) in agenda-setting, we identify three levels of scaling up in agenda-setting relevance, ranging from the ‘agenda universe’ to the ‘decision agenda’. We argue that policy entrepreneurs at the local policy level have an advantage in navigating the institutional settings with innovative, change-triggering ideas, but that on a larger, national-level scale, and with higher complexity of the policy field, their initially successful strategies might suffer setbacks. Our analysis shows that a progressive presidential candidate made shrewd use of the institutional bureaucratic settings offered by local governments in policy innovation. However, as the political arena shifts from the local to the national stage, the personal initiative of the policy entrepreneur might not suffice in scaling up policy innovations.