Identifying Barriers to Science and Technology Policy Implementation in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty Member at Amirkabir University,Tehran,Iran

2 Faculty Member at Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology(IRANDOC),Tehran,Iran

Abstract

The incomplete implementation of policies is a problem all developed and developing countries must deal with. From the perspective of policy-making knowledge, the main reasons for the issue are factors hindering the implementation of the policies at different levels. This study aims to identify the barriers of science and technology policy implementation in Iran, with an emphasis on Iran's National Comprehensive Scientific Map as a major plan and 3 other sub-plans, namely National Aerospace Development Document, Stem Cell Science and Technology Document, and Medicinal Plants Document. To this end, a synthetic method including a quantitative and a qualitative phase is used. In the qualitative phase, by reviewing the literature, the barriers to policy implementation are classified in a framework. Then a list of barriers is provided, revised and completed with the help of some policymakers and aforementioned roadmaps and plans executives through interviews. In the quantitative phase, for weighting the identified barriers, a questionnaire is designed and distributed among 31 experts and policymaking executives through selective and subjective sampling. According to the survey, the main barriers to the implementation of the science and technology policy documents are: the problem of priorities, because each action listed in the document must have its own priority; ignoring foresight results in drafting documents; policies inadaptability with existing challenges; the absence of networking among policymakers; non-governance of major policies; the lack of multi-sectoral vision; the insular structure of bureaucracy; and lack of long-term vision to management and governance of policy programs.

Keywords

References

Akreman, J. et al., 2011. How to manage barriers to formation and implemenation of policy pakages in transport, s.l.: Optic. optimal policies for Transport in Combination.
Amiri, M., 2006. Income on the epistemology of the challenge, in realizing and implementing the vision document. Strategic Defense Studies Quarterly, pp. 33-46.
Anderson, J., 1982. Cases in public policy-making. 2nd ed. New York: Holt Mc Dougal.
Baum, L., 1976. implementation of judicial decisions an organizational analysis. American politics Quarterly, pp. 86-114.
Berg, K., 2004. Implementing Chicago›s to Transform public housing. Chicago, s.n.
Brynard, P. A., 2005. Policy implementation: Lessons for service delivery. Livingstone, Zambia, s.n.
Bullock, C., 1980. the office for civil rights and implementation of desegregation programs in the public schools. policy studies journal, 8(4), pp. 597-615.
Calista, D., 1994. policy implementation. Marcel: Dekker Innc.
Cho, J., 1984. An introduction to the study of public policy. Monterrey: Brooks &Cole Publishing.
Danaeifard, H., Alvani, S. & Azar, As., 2004. Quantitative research methodology in management: a comprehensive approach. Tehran: Safar-Ashrafi.
Denhardt, R. & Catlaw, T., 2014. theories of public organization. 7th ed. Arizona : Cengage Learning.
Egeberg, M., 1999. the impact of bureaucratic structure on policy making. public administration, 77(1), pp. 155-170.
Elmore, R. F., 1980. Complexity and control: what legislator and administrators cab do about implementating policy. Washington: Institute of Governmental Research, University of Washington.
Elmore, R. F., 1987. Instruments and strategy in public policy. review of policy research, 7(1), pp. 174-186.
Fernandez, S. & Rainey, H. G., 2006. Managing successful organizational change in the public sector. public administration review66, 66(2), pp. 168-176.
Golembiewski, R. T., 2000. Handbook of organizational behavior, revised and expanded. NewYork: Marcel Dekker INC.
Gottschalk, P., 1999. Implementation predictor formal information technology strategy. Hawaii, IEEE , pp. 77-91.
Hawlett, M. & Ramesh, M., 1998. policy subsystem configurations and policy change: operationalizing the post positivist analysis of the politics of the policy process. policy studies journal, 26(3), pp. 466-481.
Hogwood, B. & Lewis, G., 1993. why perfect implementation is unattainable. In: M. Hill, ed. London, New York: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, pp. 217-225.
House, R. J. & Mitchell, T. R., 1975. Path-goal theory of leadership, Washington : Washington UNIV Seattle DEPT of Psychology.
Howlett, M., Ramesh, M. & Perl, A., 1995. Studing public policy: policy cycles and policy subsystems. Toronto: Oxford university.
Johnson, C. A. & Canon, B. C., 1984. Judicial policies: implementation and impact. Washington: CQ Press.
Kai, S., 2009. policy implementation barriers analysis: conceptual framework and pilot test in three countries, Washington: DC: Futures Group.
Khalid, H. M., 2001. Policy implementation models: the case of library and documentation services in Pakistan, 1998-2008. new library world, 102(3), pp. 87-92.
KonSULT, 2009. Barriers to implementation. [Online]
Available at: http://www.konsult.leeds.ac.uk/dmg/10/
Kostka, G., 2014. Barriers to the implementation of environmental policies at the local level in China, World Bank.
Lederer, A. L. & Vijay, S., 1988. The implementation of strategic information systems planning methodologies. MIS quarterly, 12(3), pp. 445-461.
Makinde, T., 2005. Problems of policy implementation in developing nations: the Nigerian experience. journal of social sciences, 11(1), pp. 63-69.
Marsh, D. & Allan, M. C., 2010. Toward a framework for estabilishing policy success. policy administration, 88(2), pp. 564-583.
Montjoy, R. S. & O›Toole, L. J., 1979. Toward a theory of policy implementation: an organizational perspective. public administration review, 39(5), pp. 465-476.
Moghadaspoor, S., Danaei Fard, H. & Kordnaeij, A., 2013. Exploring key factors of some public policies failure in Islamic Republic Of IRAN: A case study of (national) tax policies. Journal of Organizational Culture Management (JOMC), 11(1), pp. 33-68.
Mortazavi, M., Fouroozandeh Dwehkordi, L. A., Zarepoor Nasirabadi, F. A., 2012. Evaluating and prioritizing the barriers of implementing the Public Services Management Law. Management Research in Iranm (TMU Press journal).
O›Toole, L. J., 1986. Policy recommendations for multi-actor implemenatation: an assessment of the field. journal of public policy, 6(2), pp. 181-210.
Pressman, J. & Wildavsky, A., 1984. implementation:how great expectations in Washington are dashed in Oakland: or, why it›s amazing that federal programs work at all, this being a saga of the economic evelopment administration as told by two sympathetic who seek to build moral on a found. California : Univ of California press.
Rahmatolah, Gh. P., 2008. Organizational decision making and public policy.Tehran: The Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities (SAMT).
Rajab Beigi, M., 1999. Obstacles to the implementation of public policy. Journal of Public Administration, pp. 73-84.
Rainey, H. G. & Steinbauer, P., 1999. Galloping elephants: Developing elements of a theory of effective government organizations. journal of public administration research and theory, 9(1), pp. 1-32.
Richardson, W., 2007. public policy failure and fiasco in education: perspective on the British examinations crises 2000-2002 and other episodes since 1975. oxford review of education routiedge, 33(2), pp. 143-160.
Rosenbaum, N., 1980. statutory structure and policy implementation: the case of wetlands regulation. policy studies journal, 8(4), pp. 575-596.
Sabatier, P. A., 1991. Toward better theories of the policy process. PS:political science and politics, 24(2), pp. 147-156.
Sabatier, P. & Mazmanian, D., 1980. the implementation of public policy: a framework of analysis. policy studies journal, 8(4), pp. 538-560.
Saghafi, As., 2008. Implementing Public Policy: Investigating the Role of Rationality in Policy Development. Tehran: Tarbiat Modares University.
Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, 2010. Country Comprehensive Map. Tehran: Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, 2012. Comprehensive document on the development of air space of the country. Tehran: Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, 2013. National Science and Technology document of stem cells. Tehran: Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, 2013. The National Document of Medicinal Herbs and Traditional Medicine. Tehran: Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
Sharifzadeh, F., Alvani, S., Rezaei Manesh, B. & Mokhtar poorian, M., 2013. Implementation Barriers of the Cultural Policies of the First to Fourth Development Programs: A Review of the Experiences of Cultural Managers. Strategic Management Thought, 7 (1), pp. 63-77.
Skogstad, G., 2007. policy failure, policy learning and policy development in a context of internationalization. Saskatoon, Univ.of Saskatchewan.
Smith, J. E., 2006. Science and technology foresight: a provocative tool for contending with future challenges in food safety and public veterinary medicine. veterinaria italiana, 43(2), pp. 237-246.
Somit, A. & Steven A., P., 2003. Human nature and public policy: An evolutionary approach. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 14 November 2015
  • Accept Date: 09 March 2016

Share

How to cite

Statistics