The Obstacles of Women's Limited Political Participation in Iran

The number of female members of parliament has always been limited in the legislative body of Iran whereas there is no legal limitation for them to be elected. Thus the main question of this article is: Why has not the number of women increased during the nine terms of Islamic Republic of Iran''s parliament? What are the main factors leading to this condition? Given the fact that half of the population is composed of women، if they actively participate in the elections and vote for female candidates، we will not witness such conditions. Therefore the significant factors leading to the limited number of female members of parliament should be probed in their society and also their electoral behavior. Based on this issue، this research aims to probe the roots of this limitation by investigating the attitude of women towards participation for the parliamentary election. On this basis، the female students at six universities (Imam Khomeini International University، Tabriz University، Alame Tabatabaie University، Tehran University، Amirkabir University and Isfahan University) were chosen and their viewpoints were studied. Participants in this research included 300 university students who were sampled randomly. The authors have used descriptive-analytic methodology and questionnaires were used for collecting data. The results show that the domestic factors forming the tendencies and preferences of women along with diverse environmental factors direct the activities of women and are influencing their present mentioned condition. Cultural factors and how they are socialized are the leading factors for restricting the political participation of women and also limiting the number of female MPs in the Islamic Republic of Iran.