Long-term Policy-making Process on Development

Identifying the prevailing social order is the basic core of the long-term policy-making process on development in developing countries so that long-term policies could be designed based on the gradual changing of the social order. Evaluating the success rate of the policies is based on considerations of political economy. While latent social conflicts in policies are considered, losers and winners of policy-makings are identified and compensatory mechanisms for losers are designed in overall context of gradual improvement of social order. Then, methods of organizing policies are considered on the basis of proximate causes (i.e., physical and human investing and technology) and fundamental causes (i.e., institutions, culture and geography) of development. Designing a consistent policy package based on the approach leads to a double balance of economic and political systems and to balanced development and avoids involving in the low-level equilibrium trap and its consequences (including riot, coup and revolution). The article shows that Iranian experiences on development are consistent with this approach.