Designing a Model of Factors Affecting the Rule of Law Orientation in Public Sector Managers in Line with the Implementation of General Administrative Policies

The aim of this study is to design a model of the factors influencing rule of law orientation in public sector managers, in line with the implementation of Clause 20 of the General Administrative Policies. This research is applied in terms of its objective, descriptive-exploratory in nature, and follows a mixed-methods approach. The statistical population in the qualitative phase comprises academic and executive experts, while in the quantitative phase, it includes managers of public organizations. Data collection tools consisted of in-depth, semi-structured interviews in the qualitative phase, in which 16 experts were selected through purposive judgmental sampling until theoretical saturation was reached. In the quantitative phase, data were gathered using a questionnaire that was distributed via stratified random sampling among 130 managers of public organizations. Data analysis in the qualitative section was conducted using thematic analysis, while structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed in the quantitative section. The findings of the qualitative analysis led to the identification of 66 basic themes, 12 organizing themes, and 4 overarching themes: organizational factors, individual factors, environmental factors, and rule of law orientation in public managers. The quantitative findings confirmed the goodness-of-fit of the proposed model and demonstrated that each category of factors (individual, organizational, and environmental) had a positive and significant effect on rule of law orientation among public sector managers, with organizational factors exerting the greatest influence. The results of this study can be utilized to develop practical strategies for enhancing public managers’ adherence to legal and judicial regulations and institutionalizing a culture of legality within the public sector.