An Analysis of Modern Public Administration in the Context of Policy-Making Cycle (Case Study)

One of the important success factors in public sector organizations is voluntary participation or citizen-centered approach which is emphasized by modern public administration paradigm. The purpose of this research was to introduce the modern public administration paradigm and to emphasize the vital role of modern public administration dimensions as the predisposing factors of citizens’ participation in the policy-making cycle of Tehran Municipality. A matrix was made up of modern public administration dimensions and steps of policy-making cycle drawn respectively on the X-axis and Y-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system so that the importance and priority of citizens’ participation could be determined at the interception point of the matrix. Then, a conceptual model was developed based on targeted sampling method involving 10 experts and applying fuzzy Delphi technique in two phases and with structured interviews. Besides, 392 questionnaires were distributed among the staff personnel of the municipality, selected through random sampling method. Results show that participation affects policy-making cycle through one-way communication, dialogue and deep conversation in six phases; through social counseling in five phases and through work sharing in three phases. Also, modern public administration dimensions have positive impact on policy-making cycle through the four types of participation, meaning one-way communication, social counseling, dialogue and deep conversation and work sharing.