Policy Networks and the Climate of Policymaking for NGOs

Abstract

The review of the case studies in this research book shows that the rule of the reformist and conservative streams in two consecutive eight-year periods, interacting with differences of policy domains and levels of government—all as independent variables—shifted the structure of policy networks in Iran. This shift brought NGOs different environments and climates in terms of opportunities and constraints. This chapter describes the trajectory of the structure of eight policy networks in the local and national women’s-rights and environmental policy domains across the two terms, and discusses whether the presence of issue networks or policy communities correlated with the changes at macro politics. For doing so, it also looks at the influence of the political opportunity structure on the single aspects of the policy networks. Moreover, the chapter discusses the interaction between three contributing factors of political opportunity structure in the case of Iran. Finally, it draws out the theoretical implications for the policy network literature and the agency of advocacy NGOs in hybrid regimes.