Social Policy and State Capacity in Iran: Health and Education Policy from 1981-2009

The fact that states operate under different structures and capacities in order to provide welfare and social justice for their citizens has been the subject of various studies. Since the capacity of states differs at various times and in different situations, their capabilities for welfare provision vary as well. The present paper draws upon the state-centered framework, applying quantitative methods and secondary data to study the relationship between state capacity and two aspects of social policy, education and health in Iran from 1981 to 2009. The findings reveal that there is no statistically significant relationship between state capacity and education policy with respect to social expenditure from 1981 to 2009. Yet, there is a statistically significant relationship between state capacity and health policy. Considering the structure of political economy in Iran, results of this research reveal that different aspects of social policy have not been evenly influenced by the capacity of the state.