NGOs, Policy Networks and Political Opportunities in Hybrid Regimes

This book discusses the diversity and resilience in a hybrid regime where civil society organisations are either provided with complex sets of opportunities or face severe constraints. By studying the case of Iran between 1997 and 2013, it shows how the Islamic Republic regime went into two opposite directions under two presidencies and played in-between supporting and suppressing advocacy NGOs. After accommodating a novel theoretical framework enabling scholars to identify the contributing factors of diversity in the regime, four case-study chapters are designated for comparing the women's rights and environmental NGOs across local and national governments. These two political and technical policy areas demonstrate the different scopes of freedoms for advocacy NGOs. The contrasting narratives of the civil activists and policymakers imply paradoxes and shifts in the arrangement of opportunities for action and advocacy, although the leadership and structure of the regime remained unchanged during the period of study.

Contains a large number of interviews and questionnaires with policymakers and civil society activists as members of policy networks Develops and applies a new theoretical framework that is based on two separate theories 'political opportunity structure' theory and 'policy networks' theory Provides systematic implications not only about circulation of power at macro and micro levels, but also about the agency of NGOs Brings together the three levels of analysis and literature, i.e. macro, meso, and micro levels Critically distinguishes and reviews the two areas of public participation political vs. executive and also provides readers with a leveled analysis

Autorentext

Mohsen Moheimany holds a PhD in political science from Dublin City University. He received his MA of public policy from The University of Nottingham. Mohsen's area of interest is mostly Iran's civil society, with the experience of writing for local and international publications and media. Previously, Mohsen published a book chapter with Routledge publication about the changing civil society and the hybrid regime in Iran.

Klappentext

This book discusses the diversity and resilience in a hybrid regime where civil society organisations are either provided with complex sets of opportunities or face severe constraints. By studying the case of Iran between 1997 and 2013, it shows how the Islamic Republic regime went into two opposite directions under two presidencies and played in-between supporting and suppressing advocacy NGOs. After accommodating a novel theoretical framework enabling scholars to identify the contributing factors of diversity in the regime, four case-study chapters are designated for comparing the women s rights and environmental NGOs across local and national governments. These two political and technical policy areas demonstrate the different scopes of freedoms for advocacy NGOs. The contrasting narratives of the civil activists and policymakers imply paradoxes and shifts in the arrangement of opportunities for action and advocacy, although the leadership and structure of the regime remained unchanged during the period of study.

Inhalt
1 One regime; two trajectories.- 2 Civil society and political participation: the areas and levels of literature.- 3 Theories and concepts of the studyResearch design and methodology.- 4 The data and methods of research.- 5 Political opportunity structure in the Islamic Republic of Iran.- 6 National and local policy networks in the women's-right domain.- 7 National and local policy networks in the environmental domain.- 8 Comparison and discussion.- 9 Conclusion.