Mega-Policies of The Development Plan: A Case Study of Iran

In the present study, an attempt is made to explain and rationalize the formulation of mega-policies in Iran.

This research was an analytical study based on the focus group and tried to use a process method to formulate mega-program policies with an emphasis on the Seventh Development Plan in Iran.

Results show that there is no structured method to formulate general policies for development programs. Therefore, by adopting the process of formulating public policies, the following processes have been obtained for formulating policy rulings: 1) identifying priority public issues as the main axes of policy rulings; 2) identifying the requirements arising from the upstream documents in formulating general program policies; 3) identifying policy options (as sub-categories) to solve general problems by combining theoretical resources, general policies, and expertise intervention; 4) Feasibility study of policy options; 5) enumerating the main categories as policy rulings.

Originality: 

Studies have been conducted on how to formulate general program policies in Iran with a governance approach. This study has been able to propose a defensible process for formulating general program policies in Iran by focusing on policy-making methodology. In addition, in this study, 21 priority public issues have been identified and the corresponding policy rulings for each of them have been formulated.