Understanding the role of institutions in the multiple streams approach through the recognition of the diaspora as a development agent in Cameroon

Policy Sciences https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-023-09500-x RESEARCH ARTICLE Understanding the role of institutions in the multiple streams approach through the recognition of the diaspora as a development agent in Cameroon Léger Félix Ntienjom Mbohou1 Accepted: 2 March 2023 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023 Abstract This article examines the potential contribution of the diaspora to development in Cameroon. It illuminates the role of institutional dynamics within the Multiple Streams Approach (MSA). Drawing on the concept of problem compatibility, this research demonstrates that problem recognition does not occur solely as a result of the work of policy entrepreneurs or problem brokers. It also depends on the institutional context within which the problem arises. Data demonstrate that the shock of the economic crisis and its repercussions in Cameroon required innovative sources of development financing, particularly capitalizing on resources from the diaspora, otherwise known as the diaspora option. This led in part to the modification of the "appreciative system" of its network on diaspora policy. Moreover, the heterogeneity of this network has reframed the view of the diaspora, long considered a threat to the stability and security of the country. This analysis, based on interviews with fifteen government officials, experts, and professionals, highlights the institutional processes that drive the problem stream. Keywords Multiple streams approach · Problem recognition · Problem compatibility · Capitalizing on diaspora potential Introduction With the notable exception of one study using network theory to explain smoothing processes in the solution stream (Zahariadis & Allen, 1995), work based on the multiple streams approach (MSA) has consistently emphasized processes and agency at the expense of institutions (Barzelay & Gallego, 2006; Mucciaroni, 1992; Zahariadis, 2014). Institutions, understood as formal rules, compliance procedures, and standardized operational practices that structure the relationships between individuals within different units of the polity and economy (Hall, 1986), have been neglected by Kingdon’s model (Reardon, 2018). Indeed, analyzing institutional dynamics or the role of networks allows for * Léger Félix Ntienjom Mbohou 1 Department of Political Science, Pavillon Charles‑De Koninck, 1030, Avenue Des Sciences‑Humaines, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada 13 Vol.:(0123456789) Policy Sciences the theoretical power of the MSA to be developed, as it elucidates mechanisms related to problem recognition and windows of opportunity in the problem stream (Reardon, 2018). This research, which elucidates the role of institutional dynamics in the MSA, explains how institutional dynamics play out in recognizing and framing the diaspora option in Cameroon. This paper, which applies the two propositions formulated by Reardon (2018) to the emergence of the diaspora option in Cameroon, examines the framing power of networks within the problem stream. It demonstrates how the institutionalization of frames within a network’s "appreciative system" affects the recognition and definition of problems (Reardon, 2018, p. 460). A network appreciative system is an organized set of coordinated ideas and principles resulting from the exchange of resources among actors that influence the perception of problems (Smith, 2000, p. 96) and determine the categories or frameworks through which conditions are examined and then recognized as problems or not (Rochefort & Cobb, 1994; Shön & Rein, 1994). Thus, this study, which is based on interviews with fifteen individuals, including government officials, experts, and professionals, demonstrates that due to the economic crisis that resulted in the sharp contraction of development aid, foreign direct investment and private capital flows, the appreciative system of the government-dominated policy network was radically transformed, and the diaspora option became a problem that public authorities had to address. Moreover, the diversification of actors involved in diaspora policy has facilitated a change in the situation of the diaspora, which was long considered a threat to the stability and security of the country. This article follows work that shifts the analytical focus on framing as exclusively a tool of agency to the role of institutional dynamics in the creation of frames. By revealing the power of inclusion and exclusion in network-created frames, this work enriches the MSA, whose literature previously focused on the ability of an individual—whether a policy entrepreneur or a problem broker—to frame a problem in a way that would capture the attention of policy-makers. The problem here is therefore similar to that of Reardon (2018): namely, how the institutionalization of frames within a network appreciative system can delimit the recognition of problems. This paper begins with a presentation of the context (Sect. “Study context“) and the theoretical framework of the study (Sect. “Expectations, methods and data”). The following sections examine the data and methodology (Sect. “4”) before turning to the presentation of results (Sect. “Results”) and discussion (Sect. “Discussion”). The conclusion constitutes the last Sect. “Conclusion”. Study context Because of its role and actions in Cameroon’s struggle for independence in the 1950s, as well as its radical opposition to successive regimes since independence in 1960, the diaspora has always been considered by Cameroonian authorities to be the breeding ground of the opposition. It was thus discredited. It was thought incapable of playing any role other than that of destabilizing the country (Deltombe, Domergue, & Tatsitsa, 2016; Joseph, 1986; Nkoyock, 2015; O’Sullivan, 1972). This perception was reinforced in the 1990s, which were marked by democratic revolutions that shook Cameroon in particular and many African countries in general (Banock, 1992; Monga & Mensah, 2008; Owona Nguini & Menthong, 2018; Sindjoun, 2004). Thus, the idea that the diaspora could make a positive contribution to development is new. The appreciative system within the government during 13 Policy Sciences this period perceived the diaspora as a threat to be contained and curbed. Two pieces of legislation perfectly illustrate and materialize the views of this system: Law No. 1968-LF-3 of June 11, 1968, part of the Cameroonian nationality code, prohibits the holding of multiple nationalities, and Ordinance No. 62-OF-18 of March 12, 1962, on the suppression of subversion aimed in particular to prevent the diaspora from engaging in activities—whatever their nature—in national territory but also to combat diaspora from abroad. Cameroon was severely impacted by the global economic crises of the 1980s and 1990s when a structural adjustment plan was imposed by the International Monetary Fund, leading to the natio (...truncated)