Allameh Tabataba’i University Strategic Recommendations for  Administrative Bodies

Allameh Tabataba’i University Strategic Recommendations for Administrative Bodies

The Necessity and Requirements of Political Spatial Planning and Surveying in Public Policymaking

Author
Department of Political Science, Allameh Tabataba'i University
Abstract
The growing complexity of public issues and the entanglement of economic, social, cultural, and legal dimensions with the political sphere highlight the necessity of a systematic focus on political variables in public policymaking. In Iran, policymaking is frequently influenced by short-term factional considerations, discretionary decision-making, and institutional conservatism, lacking scientific foundations, proper organizational arrangements, and sufficient expert manpower. Consequently, many programs and policies, despite their overarching goals, lack precise feasibility studies, stakeholder identification, and political impact assessments, which directly leads to implementation failure or negative political consequences. While certain mechanisms such as "cultural attachments" or economic impact assessments have received limited attention, the monitoring of social capital, public satisfaction, and social resilience as key political components has not been independently and professionally institutionalized within the policymaking and monitoring systems. Achieving a policy framework grounded in political spatial planning and surveying requires recognizing the authority of science, embracing policy reflection, opening the political space, enabling the free flow of information, and developing independent research institutions. Recommendations include strengthening policymaking and policy-evaluation trends in higher education, compelling policymaking bodies to submit a "political attachment," delegating evaluations to independent institutes, creating comprehensive databases, and developing a culture of critique acceptance and continuous evaluation in public policymaking.
Keywords