Public policy

One policy making issue that needs to be addressed more effectively through an intergovernmental and participatory approach is entrepreneurship policy. Entrepreneurship is an area where interdependencies are very high, and the establishment of collaborative relationships such as networks is vital. Therefore, a network approach in the entrepreneurial policy-making process, which leads to the involvement of key stakeholders and entrepreneurs, will lead to higher legitimacy and effectiveness of policies. The purpose of the research is to validate and design a suitable model for policy networks in the field of entrepreneurship. Qualitative data analysis was conducted through theme analysis; and the quantitative data through the structural equations. After designing the conceptual model, the research questionnaire with dimensions was distributed among 240 experts and managers of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare. Reliability of the questionnaire was verified using Cronbach's alpha and composite Reliability Coefficient (CR), and its validity was confirmed by Convergent Validity and Convergent Validity (AVE) methods. Finally, 24 components were identified in four branches of necessity, structural, behavioral and background. The findings show that, it is essential for the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare to focus on the role and importance of these entrepreneurs in order to develop the field of entrepreneurship, and to consider the network thinking in policy making as a substitute for hierarchical thinking.

The present study is an applied developmental study and from the point of view of data collection is a qualitative one. The strategy applied in this study is the grounded theory as a systematic and qualitative approach toward creating a hypothesis. The main aim the present study follows is to design a model for the pathology of running public policies in Iran. The data was collected through face to face, profound 60 to 90 minute interviews with 20 of prominent policy makers, executives and professors asking questions on challenges of running public policies. Sampling was conducted theoretically. Initially, a set of basic concepts were recollected via coding process and categories were extracted from them. Later, in axial coding stage, the relationship between these categories was determined through coding paradigm. Then, in the selective coding stage, each part of the model was explained. The advantage of this study over other works of research conducted on the pathology of running public policies is presenting a comprehensive and practical model attempting to consider all parameters affecting an unsuccessful public policy. The present study tries to demonstrate a holistic view and identify the challenges in public policy environment, challenges of the policy in public environment, and challenges of running a public policy ending in the failure of a public policy in order to elaborate on the outcomes of a failed policy.

Understanding the policy cycle, as well as scrutinizing the text of hidden and obvious policies and rules, requires a model of discourse analysis based on which discursive ap-proaches of policy makers are understood and estimated. However, when it comes to presenting a policy model, we have to use the views of policy theorists to see how a problem as a "public goods" can be found in the policy agenda setting. Regarding public policy-making procedures, quantitative or descriptive approaches, in studies the state, are often used to pathologizing policies or to obtaining policy advice models. However, this paper attempts to show that studies the state is a discourse that is described by the dominant discursive signifiers in the target society in which policy-makers make mean-ing to concepts. If we assume that the policy making cycle is something other than a several stages, such as defining a problem, finding a solution to it, decision making and implementing, then it is clear that the definition of a problem, whether the presentation of solutions and the process of decision making and its implementation, cannot be out-side the discourse. Therefore, public policy at the macro level and studies the state, as one of its examples and functions, is a discursive, which its understanding is possible only if the dominant discourse and its relation to the realities of the society in question are well understood.

Background: As societies have become more complicated to manage, it is already unavoidable for governments to evaluate public policies. Moreover, adherence to professional ethics is an important criterion in evaluations. Therefore, the present research sought to provide a model for public policy evaluation based on the aspects of professional ethics. Method: The approach of the present study was mixed (qualitative- quantitative) and in terms of purpose it was applicable research. In the qualitative section, participants included academic experts and governorate experts of Golestan province, 14 of whom were selected by purposive sampling. The research tool was semi-structured interviews and coding method was used to analyze the data. In the quantitative part, the statistical population was the managers and experts of the governorate and governorates (630 people) that the sample size was 248 people and the sampling method was random. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire based on qualitative findings. Friedman statistical test with Spss26 software was used to analyze the data. Cronbach's alpha test was used for the validity of the questionnaire from the perspective of experts and its reliability (0.91). Results : The results showed that from the experts' point of view, 6 main themes (quality of effective evaluators in policy, ethical nature of policy, how policy is implemented, factors related to economic planning, openness and accountability and attention to structural issues) and 19 components in public policy evaluation model emphasizing the quality of the dimensions of professional ethics in the governorates of the country. Quantitative results showed that the ethical nature of the policy was the most important component of the general policy evaluation model with emphasis on professional ethics (M = 5.23). Conclusion : It can be concluded that the public policy evaluation model with an emphasis on professional ethics has different cultural, economic, social, and professional elements, which for better governance of provincial governments, they must be considered by executive authorities at the country’s macro and micro levels.

The use of ICT to support activities in the policymaking process is on the increase. At the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic, Government agencies around the world relied on ICTs to either remotely support and/or enable policy-making activities. Policy-making activities occur via collaborative processes between interested parties by means of dialogue. Some extant ICTs utilized by government agencies support and enable collaboration and dialogue. However, the decision on what ICT to adopt is not always easy as a result of the failure of some ICTs to support the task they were designed for. As a result due diligence is needed by public service administrators to decide on which ICT to adopt. This implies a decision process required to decide if the public agency will mobilize resources to acquire and implement the ICT. But as most government agencies around the world have adopted ICT to support dialogue and collaborative activities in their policy making decision. This paper provides the result of a study where the mobilization-decision theory was used to analyse and explain reasons why government agencies around the world, aside the pressure from COVID-19, made the decision to mobilize resources to acquire, implement and utilize ICTs for policy dialogue and collaboration.