Identifying Factors Affecting Public Participation of Citizens in the Public Policy Process

Abstract

One of the methods of creating this citizen-centered view and the formation of democracy is to create a bridge between citizens and the government to involve citizens in the policy-making process. Therefore, the principle of citizens' participation in the policy-making process is a desirable phenomenon, but it is not clear how to create the conditions for such a situation. Therefore, in this research, the factors affecting citizens' participation in the public policy-making process in the Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare were identified. After examining the theoretical foundations and previous studies in the field of citizen participation in the public policy making process, based on the studies, 16 effective factors were identified. Then, these components were provided to the experts in the form of a three-stage Delphi questionnaire. According to the analysis of three rounds of Delphi, 1 component was integrated in other components and 5 components were also removed and finally 15 components were approved by the experts. In the following, using the expert opinions of 80 experts and specialists in the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, the factors were categorized and analyzed statistically, and the analysis of the results using the exploratory factor analysis technique showed that 15 components can be He categorized under 5 factors. The main factors identified included communication and communication channels, support for citizens' representatives and elected representatives, setting laws and regulations, encouraging and motivating citizens, and reforms in the government structure.