محمد زهدی گهرپور

For more than 40 years, Robert Dahl’s theory of polyarchy democracy has been considered by scholars as one of the most effective, robust, and enlightening forms of contemporary revisionist democratic theory. The English version of this book was published in 1971 and its translation was published in 2018. Polyarchy is defined as a set of institutional arrangements that allow for public opposition and inclusive participation in politics. The central assumption of the sign in this book, which involves a linear process, is that when hegemonic systems and competitive dictatorships move toward multiculturalism, opportunities for effective participation and questioning increase. Therefore, the number of individuals, groups, and interests whose policy priorities are considered increases. In this article, an attempt is made to examine the intellectual background and studies of Robert Dahl over two decades (1970-1950) and to identify the roots of the development of his theory of polyarchy democracy, presented in the form of an independent book, in his earlier works.

Abstract
In era of globalization and the influx of communication technologies and extensive human interaction space with the help of cyberspace, identity and belonging are fading concepts that on the one hand and the other in a state of change and evolution. The identity of the agent identifying himself against others, on the one hand indicator of similarities and on the other hand highlights the difference. Identity can be introduced as a sychological-cultural concept, that foundation image, perception, tasks and interaction with others. Rather, a subjective concept that is constantly interacting with objective phenomena. Identity, also, interact with spatial concepts, and give objectivity to concepts and perception formed in the geographical phenomena to stabilize and strengthen. In this paper, we review the definitions and characteristics of identity, the relationship of this concept with key concepts in geography such as place, space, scale, border, state and territory.

No doubt that the specialized vocabulary in every science, represented those science, and scientific language as an integral part of every science. Any scientific study requires the loss of a coherent set of specific vocabulary of the discipline, synonyms for them, and suggest them to precisely define the areas of disagreement and eliminate possible misunderstandings.
The etymological origin of ‘territory’ is often traced back to the Latin ‘terra’ (geographic area) and ‘terrere’ (to frighten: to terrorise).Territory is back. For long something of a poor relation among spatial concepts, and until recently on the wane politically, territory today seems to be ever more important. Borders, security, sovereignty, secession, invasion and occupation—all usually seen as close correlates of territory—are rarely out of the news. Meanwhile, in political theory and philosophy, the fashionable notion of deterritorialisation cannot be separated from a correlative reterritorialisation. Territory’s time has come, or so it seems.
If any kind of space is quintessentially “state space”, it is surely “territory”. Yet, for all the far-reaching discussion of the territorial re-organization of the contemporary state, the decline and rise of the political salience of territory, and the implications of territory for the exercise of power, the nature of territory itself—it's being and becoming, rather than its consequences and effects—remains under-theorized and too often taken for granted. The intense engagement with diverse forms of social theory that has marked human geography since the 1980s has involved a comprehensive interrogation and re-thinking of many of the core concepts of the discipline, including space, place, landscape, region and scale. Until recently, however, the concept of territory has not received the same level of attention, at least in the Anglophone literature.
It is interesting to think about the reasons for this relative neglect. It seems plausible to suggest that among critical human geographers the concept of territory may even have been seen as something of an embarrassment. There are a couple of possible explanations for this, particularly if we accept for the sake of argument that territory has usually been understood as a bounded and in some respects homogeneous portion of geographical space.
Geographical thinking in the 1980s and 1990s came increasingly to emphasize the porosity and fluidity of boundaries, and the supposedly consequent reduction in their political salience. It also stressed the increasingly (or even intrinsically) heterogeneous character of space and place. In these circumstances, invoking the concept of territory risked being seen as either anachronistic (because the world had changed) or reactionary (because an insistence on seeing the world in terms of bounded and homogenous spaces suggested a fear of Otherness and an exclusionary attitude to social and cultural difference).
The concept of territory may also have been embarrassing for some because of its ill-defined, but powerful associations with the use of similar concepts in animal ethology and socio-biology. After all, one of the commonest uses of the term “territory” in general discourse is to refer to the home range of an animal, particularly with reference to aggressive and defensive behaviors. Of course, anything that risks smuggling socio-biological assumptions into studies of human activity is anathema to most critical social scientists. A similar mistrust of ideas smacking of environmental determinism may have added to the suspicion with which the concept of territory has sometimes been regarded.
Although many discussions of territory suggest that it is fundamentally a political phenomenon, the perception that it also often involves fixed borders perhaps raised the spectre of “natural boundaries” and nineteenth century understandings about the relationship between culture and environment: desert peoples, mountain peoples, forest peoples and plains peoples; each with a special ineffable bond between culture, nature and “territory”.
The assertion of territorial control has been explained as an innate, instinctive inclination of human beings to possess and to defend an area against intruders, similar to animals. Although every individual human being requires some space to live, and feels emotionally attached to certain places, the diversity of political entities in the past and present shows that neither individuals nor social collectives seek instinctively fixed, closed, and clearly demarcated territories for their survival or the protection of property. People may feel more comfortable and relaxed when they control ‘their’ territory, yet the scale and size of the territory they consider as their ‘natural’ home, or as their fatherland - their backyard, city, region, village, state, federation, neighborhood, empire, etc. - is indeterminate.
Political Geography has several concepts such as place, space, scale and territory, and so that the concepts are disputed. Concept of territory, according to many experts in the field of political geography, one of the most controversial concepts in this field. Choose the appropriate equivalent can help audience for easy understand. This study is fundamental theoretical, and descriptive analysis using primary sources in Persian and Latin, try to find the nature of the concept of territory and introduce appropriate equivalent in Persian political geography literature. As research founding's in appropriate equivalent for territory shows, political geographers use it in different meanings, beyond the understanding of natural geographers as a framework for natural processes, and also as human geographers consider the term mentioned as a static field of human events. In terms of political geography, territory is not only mere space for human action as physical framework, but is a clear reflection of "power relations between political actors", So that in several important aspects of social life and social power, such as function of "space control", "political actors", "borders and apply the monopoly rule" arises. So territory is field that individuals try to control by methods such as "defense", "control", "exclusion" and "inclusion", thus territory, in political geography literature confined space is defined by a boundary, that provides power and control for state; And thus the territory consist of the land, because the land is the physical and human (non-political) domain.

One of the basic requirements of any government is to protect the security under the sovereignty over geographic space. Nowadays, after transition from government's traditional challenges, we are facing with a new challenge; an organized phenomenon that endanger safety of society in the areas out of the government's control. This new challenge is called "holes in the state". Actors, at different levels, create these holes within the competitions and conflicts, in different social, economic, political and cultural areas, deepen and expand it. And finally they leave particular spatial effects behind these holes.The purpose of this research is to scrutinize the mechanisms governing the actors that use cybernetics in different levels and cyberspace and how this space affects holes in the state.This research is based on descriptive- analytic method and try to proof the hypothesis “The role of cybernetic factors in emergence of political and cultural holes" by case study and through underlying and analysis the relations between cyberspace and holes in the State.

promote gender empowerment indicators of women''s political participation in Central Asia and the Caucasus have been estimated and the status of women''s political participation and economic participation have two dimensions. Continuing with the analysis of qualitative content analysis results are profound and logical evidence، the current status of women in the region have identified two areas of political and economic participation. The results show that poor infrastructure، rule of totalitarian political systems، the deep impact of the former communist regime، poor educational and cultural structures of domination and patriarchy and women''s negative attitude to the political nature of most of the few women''s political participation countries in the study are noted.

In most countries, the border surrounding areas are the farthest from the center; for this reason, they are often the most deprived areas of the country. The unbalanced development of the economic, social, and ecological parts and also the lack of local interactions have led to these kind of exclusions. Development of border areas and employment generation in the region for the purpose of reducing poverty and unemployment creates the possibility that the psychological and economic costs of migration would be avoided and natural resources and social capital equipment and infrastructure could be exploited. Border markets are the advantages of border regions that by mobilizing the local advantages and capacities and institutional changes aiming at removing social and economic barriers needs to be considered for regional development. West Azarbaijan Province, located in the throat of the Caucasus and Turkey and Iraq's neighbors, is not aside from the developmental policies of the country and the government established the border markets to regulate the cross-border transactions in the province. This study seeks to answer the following questions: how have Razi and Sero border markets acted in the development of surrounding border areas? How can the performance of each of these markets be evaluated in local development? This study was conducted in descriptive-analytical method; the required data were collected using various sources such as interviews, statistical reports, books, journals, etc. The results showed that by considering the existing potentials both of the border markets could not take appropriate and essential steps for the development and improving the livelihoods of people living in border areas. In the meantime, Sero border market, which is located in the province and the provincial authorities pay more attention to, didn’t have an acceptable performance comparing to Razi border market.

Islamic Republic of Iran has common long land and water borders with Turkmenistan. Hence, we can say that the border areas with neighboring countries in the north, i.e., Turkmenistan have several various challenges. Sources of tensions include ethnic geographical stretches with Turkmen in Turkmen Plain, Turkmenistan’s strong need to the rivers incoming from Iranian lands, the geopolitical interests of the two countries particularly in the area of the crossing, the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and border functionalities. But the internal challenges of Turkmenistan and Central Asia and the probability of spreading regional tensions, the presence of the U.S. and Israel in Turkmenistan, Turkmenistan of secular political system type and the way of dealing with Muslim fundamentalists, will affect the relations between two countries. Nevertheless, national and internal security, and border margins on the one hand affect bilateral or multilateral sources of tension with neighboring countries and on the other hand Iran’s strategic environment including its national security is exposed to multiple external geopolitical domains. However, because Iran’s territorial space is a complement to the geopolitical strategy of Turkmenistan, it plays an important role in the absorption and persistence of insecurity itself. Now, this question is raised: regarding the existence of multiple sources of tensions and threats in the borders of Iran and Turkmenistan and the effects of these tensions and threats on the countries’ internal security, how will the future of relations between Iran and Turkmenistan be? In this paper, using documentary analysis and library studies of existing data, an attempt is made to answer the above-raised question. After investigations and analyses of the existing data we came to this conclusion Iran and Turkmenistan relations will face crises in the future duo to some problems that were referred to in the text.

Traditional space relations among civilian space actors are undergoing in the post-cold war era a rapid evolution with a growing number of new institutional entities. The cold war era and its resulting political environment, which limited space cooperation to ‘intra- bloc’ cooperation, has disappeared, allowing the development of new axes and mechanisms of cooperation. The internationalization and regionalization of space activities witnessed in recent years is foreseen to gain momentum, leading therefore to a new geography of civilian space activities.

The most important issue of the present era that human being is faced with is the comprehensive development. Although many opportunities have been created in the twentieth century as a result of the scientific and technological revolution, there still exists a population of almost one sixth of the world that live on less than a dollar a day. The development is a difficult and complicated process but people should not be disappointed in achieving it. As many underdeveloped countries of the world have been able to achieve a secure social and economic development during the last fifty years. Many of these countries have had good achievements in the economic, health, and educational fields. In some of them, the national income per capita in the past (early 1960s) has fifty times increased. The growth rate that is unprecedented in human history. Therefore, the rapid and continuous development was considered unattainable dreams and desires, but it is an attainable reality. Consideration towards all the features and capabilities of a country is one of the secrets of success in this direction. In addition to the border areas’ economic importance, their development is security necessity. The direct and interactive effects of development and security in the border areas are crystal clear. Thus, the economic development of border areas and the increase in welfare and economic income of frontiers through healthy economic activities supported by government investment have a positive impact on border security work. On the other hand, increasing the healthy economic activities and governments investment in border areas, just in case that there is not a considerable economic difference in both sides of the borders, can also have a positive impact on the borders’ interactive functions. The Razi Market, which is investigated in this study, was established in the neighboring province of Wan in Turkey in Razi border village based on the signed protocol between Iran and Turkey in 1988 for conducting the border operations by Pilehvaran and frontiers. But, due to the lack of control over imports and exports by the customs it was closed in 1989 and re-opened in 1990. The authors of this study, which has been conducted in descriptive – analytical method, by investigating the Razi border market in during the years of its activity, are after this question whether the establishment of Khoy border Market was effective in border areas’ development after starting its activities again.

Nowadays, democracy has become one of the concerns of different governments and people in the world. In this case, some countries have managed to provide this kind of government in its best form for the people residing within their border. Such countries have also managed to provide high levels of security in social, political and economic arenas for their people by securing speech and press freedom and also other rights expected by democracy.Moving toward democracy was followed more strongly by coup d''etat in 1970s in a way that waves of democratization permeated most parts of the world and also today, governments have done their best to reach this lofty cause by establishing institutions.The writers of this article intend to specify the formation of this phenomenon in the world and familiarize the readers with the kinds and forms of ruling political systems in different regions by looking in to data of the Economist’s index rating the (world) countries regarding democracy in 2008.

Public participation in political affairs as a result of willingness to take part in political system is one of the outcomes and achievements of advanced democracy. Thus participation can be deemed as one of the criteria for success of comprehensive development. Women as half of the societie's force and as an important source of development play a substantial role in the development of human societies. Men have not desired or have failed to defend women's interests. As such, women's participation in all social activities, such as politics is necessary to the extent that it can be said that assuming a minority role in political affairs on the part of women stalls democracy. United Nations Human Development which reports the rank of different countries in human development, has recently (2009) issued a report of measures taken by countries under study concerning the degree of government commitment and efforts in achieving goals of the " Gender Empowerment" program. In the table provided special care has been heeded to women participation and involvement in politics. Researchers, in this analytical-descriptive study, make an effort to answer the question as to why there is a low rate of women political participation in the Middle East. To this end and further to find the underlying reasons a comparative analysis was made of the status of the region's countries in world's democracy and of political and economical participation rate of women in the Middle East