Extending the Advocacy Coalition Framework: measuring within-coalition belief variation in offshore wind policy conflicts
2026-06-18
This study advances the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) literature by introducing new approaches to capture variation in actors’ belief expression and to analyse how such expressions are constrained by actors’ organisational affiliations. Moving beyond existing accounts of constrained belief expression, it reconceptualises constraint as measurable differences in the breadth and intensity of beliefs articulated by actors within a coalition. Drawing on debates over US offshore wind energy, the study examines how organisational affiliation shapes patterns of constrained belief expression in public discourse. To do this, the article develops two quantitative metrics – the Belief Variety Score and the Belief Extreme Score – which capture the range and intensity of belief expression within coalitions. These are complemented by network-based measures of cohesion across actor types. The findings show that purposive (value-oriented) groups are more cohesively connected in their belief-sharing, draw on a narrower range of concepts, and express more extreme beliefs than material (profit-oriented) groups. This suggests that actors in purposive groups may be more constrained in their belief expressions. These results provide empirical support for, and refinement of, ACF expectations regarding constrained belief expression, while demonstrating how within-coalition variation can be systematically measured. The study contributes a more precise conceptualisation and a novel measurement strategy for analysing belief expression in policy conflicts.