Pathology of Public Policy Analysis in Afghanistan

(With an Eight-Step Approach)

Abstract

Analysis in policymaking is considered the essence of policymaking. The present study was an attempt to find an answer to the question, what challenges and obstacles has the analysis of public policies in Afghanistan faced from the perspective of the eight-step method? This study was applied in terms of its purpose and a descriptive survey study in terms of its data collection method. The statistical population of this study was the Afghan public administration (the departments of planning, drafting, implementing, developing, and analyzing public policies) of ministries and independent departments of Afghanistan, as well as think tanks. The data were collected through a questionnaire and the research findings were analyzed using the SPSS program. The findings show that the analysis of public policies in Afghanistan faces numerous challenges. These challenges include a lack of proper understanding of the problem, failure to define the solution instead of the problem itself, lack of reliable information, the existence of interest groups with conflicting goals, lack of time, ambiguity, biases, rapid determination of priorities, excessive reliance on past experiences, conflict with laws, setting dumb criteria, excessive optimism, failure to consider indirect costs of alternatives, the existence of multiple criteria, the inability of the analyst to provide logical conclusions, the existence of corruption, budget deficits, globalization, etc.