Factors Affecting Voter Behavior with a View to Declining Participation in the Fourteenth Election Cycle in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD., Candidate, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The present study primarily aims to analyze and trace the roots of various factors influencing Iranian voters' behavior, with a focus on the reasons for declining participation in the fourteenth presidential election cycle. Accordingly, the question arises as to what structural and functional factors have laid the groundwork for the reduced participation
rate in this election cycle, and what commonalities or differences exist between this phenomenon and similar instances in the United States and certain European countries. This research has been conducted using a qualitative descriptive-analytical method; the required data, in addition to library sources, written documents, and reputable articles, have been extracted and analyzed through the systematic enumeration and examination of the opinions, interviews, notes, and positions of forty prominent political experts and leading journalists. The research findings indicate that livelihood problems and economic challenges, the continuation of international sanctions, the lack of formation and dynamism of strong political parties, the emergence of political disorientation and anomie (political apathy), the perception that votes have no impact on the fate of society, declining social capital and distrust in official institutions, and finally, the limited diversity of candidates to cover all political persuasions, have been the primary drivers of reduced participation. Ultimately, the research results suggest that voter behavior in Iran is the product of
the synergy between economic crises and structural blockages; therefore, restoring the participation rate in the future will not be achieved through one-dimensional approaches, but rather requires the tangible reconstruction of social capital, the revival of pluralistic partisanship, the reproduction of a sense that the ballot box is effective in elite circulation, and a tangible improvement in the people's livelihood conditions.

Keywords

References

Abdollah, A., & Tavakolnia, P. (2022). Investigating the causes and factors of the decline in political participation in the eleventh parliamentary election. Contemporary Political Essays, (44), pp. 147-177. [In Persian]
Abdollahi-Nejad, A., Ghasemi-Nejad, A., & Sadeghi, J. (2016). Social media and political participation in elections (The relationship between the use of Facebook, Telegram, and Instagram and students' political participation in the March 7, 2016 elections). New Media Studies, 2(5), pp. 33-73. [In Persian]
Abramowitz, A. I. (2018). The great alignment: Race, party transformation, and the rise of Donald Trump. Yale University Press.
Booth, J. (2000). The vanishing voter. CQ Researcher, 10(40), pp. 937–960.
Castillo, J. C., Palacios, D., Joignant, A., & Tham, M. (2015). Inequality, distributive justice and political participation: An analysis of the case of Chile. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 34(4), pp. 486–502.
Cook, K. S., Cheshire, C., Rice, E. R. W., & Nakagawa, S. (2013). Social exchange theory. In J. DeLamater & A. Ward (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology
(pp. 61–88). Springer.
Davidson, C. (1994). Minority vote dilution. Howard University Press.
Downs, A. (1957). An economic theory of democracy. Harper & Row.
Emamjomezadeh, S. J., & Karamirad, J. (2012). Analysis of factors affecting electoral behavior with a view to Iran. Political Researches, (3), pp. 9-36. [In Persian]
Fiorina, M. P., Abrams, S. J., & Pope, J. C. (2011). Culture war? The myth of a polarized America. Pearson.
Franklin, M. N. (2002). The decline of electoral participation in contemporary democracies. In H. D. Klingemann (Ed.), Mapping the political landscape: Essays on political science (pp. 1–33). Oxford University Press.
Hetherington, M. J. (2005). Why trust matters: Declining political trust and the demise of American liberalism. Princeton University Press.
Karimi Fard, H. (2022). Investigating and explaining the level of citizens' participation in elections with an emphasis on the advertising policies of parties and candidates. Iranian Journal of Political Sociology. [In Persian]
Leighley, J. E., & Nagler, J. (2014). Who votes now? Demographics, issues, inequality, and turnout in the United States. Princeton University Press.
Lipset, S. M. (2020). Political man: The social bases of politics (F. Majidi, Trans.). Tehran: SAMT Publications. [In Persian]
Lipset, S. M., & Dowse, R. (1994). Political sociology (M. H. Farjad, Trans.). Tehran: Tous Publications. [In Persian]
Milbrath, L. W., & Goel, M. L. (1977). Political participation: How and why do people get involved in politics? Rand McNally.
Pew Research Center. (2020). Views of the 2020 campaign and voting in November. Pew Research Center.
Pew Research Center. (2023). Voter engagement and turnout. Pew Research Center.
Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster.
Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. (2011). Strategies for enhancing participation in elections (Case study of Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, and Bulgaria). Tehran: Office of Political Studies, Research Center. [In Persian]
Rezaei, A. (1996). Social participation: Means or goal of development. Political-Economic Information, (109-110), pp. 54-63. [In Persian]
Rogers, J., & Terriquez, V. (2021). Generational shift: Youth, race, and the American electoral system (UCLA Research Report).
Rosenstone, S. J., & Hansen, J. M. (1993). Mobilization, participation, and democracy in America. Macmillan.
Safiri, K., & Sadeghi, M. (2009). Social participation of students of the Faculty of Social Sciences at universities in Tehran and the social factors affecting it. Applied Sociology, 20(34), pp. 1-34. [In Persian]
Stanford University. (2022). Structural inequalities and electoral turnout: Analyzing racial fractures, poverty, and administrative barriers in minority voting districts. Stanford University Press.
Tucker, J. A., Guess, A., Barberá, P., Vaccari, C., Siegel, A., Sanovich, S., ... & Nyhan, B. (2018). Social media, political polarization, and political disinformation: A review of the scientific literature. URL=  
https://www.hewlett.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Social-Media-Political-Polarization-and-Political-Disinformation-Literature-Review.pdf

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics