Significance of State Structures In Successful Policy Implementation: A Contextual Study Of Pakistan’s Energy Sector

Abstract

This research paper sheds light on the success of policy implementation in Pakistan and the main purpose is not only to answer our research question “To what extent are State structures within which a policy is implemented, crucial for its success or failure?; rather also proposing a model for Pakistan that addresses the identified areas of improvement. It mainly summarizes three main elements of state structure; competency and autonomy of the institutions that are relevant to the energy sector in the country and the kind of networks between them. This area of research is considered to be of crucial importance as Pakistan is unable to resolve the energy crisis. Moreover, there is a need to highlight areas where the state is lacking as Pakistan is abundant in resources, and the problem area needs to be identified. This research study includes the descriptive study of the energy policies for the period of 1994-2015 at national level, discourse analysis of the data collected through personal interviews with the concerned individuals in all the agencies relevant to the energy sector and the survey findings. Altogether they collectively helped us understand the current structure in Pakistan and their significance in successful policy implementation. Finally, Case Study Analysis of the efficient energy sectors of three countries, Sweden, India and Turkey aided to gather ideas of energy policy management from around the world in order to devise a policy framework for Pakistan’s entire energy sector. This paper shows that state structures in Pakistan need to improve on several aspects to improve policy implementation in the country. Several measures to increase their competency through altering training and promotion methods are required. Another critical factor identified is their autonomy which is critical to optimize the output of all institutions. Lastly, the networks created between these state structures should ensure synergy to mend the process as a whole. We have concluded our research with a proposed model for Pakistan that addresses these key areas of improvement.