Abstract:
Implementing any policy or making an intervention faces a range of challenges,
especially for those endeavouring to benefit the poorest social groups. Policies are
influenced by the contexts in which they are developed such as the content of
the policy, the nature of the policy process, the actors involved in the formulation
process and implementation. The purpose of this article is to describe and explain
the dimensions of policy implementation through which the dynamic components of
policy development and implementation can be explained and analysed. Therefore,
a comprehensive literature review was conducted to arrive at an understanding
of the theoretical approaches to policy implementation and the factors that act
as barriers to effective implementation. For the implementation process to be
improved, policy implementers must consider a number of factors associated with
policy implementation. The article locates the dimensions of policy implementation
within the wider policy literature and describes why each component of the
dimension is important for effective policy implementation. The article concludes
by arguing that a supportive policy environment can be regarded as one of the
cornerstones of improved and effective policy implementation.
