Identification of Government Sector Strategies Regarding to NGOs along Public Policy Process in Iran; Case study: Environment and Natural Resources Area

Civil society, along with private sector and government, is the third pillar of development in good governance. Necessity of interaction between government sector (including the state and the assembly) and nonprofit sector, as the driving force of civil society, is undeniable. Various bodies and organizations of government sector interact with NGOs at problem identification, policy development, execution and evaluation stages. The purpose of this paper is to identify strategies of government sector regarding NGOs to manage the relationship throughout the policy process. Findings of multiple case study of the two parties’ relationships, revealed that government sector apply five types of strategies: confrontational, indifferent, hypocrite, cooperative and fundamental. In order to reach effective interaction, government should move from the first three strategies to the last two ones.