An Investigation of Political Participation in the 9th and 10th Round of Presidential Election in the Islamic Republic of Iran

The purpose of the present study is to explore the state of political participation in the 9th and 10th round of presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This research relies on the hypothesis that political participation in the 9th and 10th presidential elections, despite some differences compared to each other, has been under the influence of religious ideologies and beliefs, the performance of former governments, propaganda and debate campaigns, and populist policies. The method of the study was descriptive analysis and based on the theoretical framework of Pippa Norris model. The results conveyed that political participation is considered as a contributing factor in decreasing social anxiety and mental stress because the citizens can have a direct and indirect role in choosing their politicians, governments, or laws. In the 9th and 10th presidential election in Iran, reliance on religious values, vast propaganda campaigns, media debates, and populist behavior were among the effective criteria on increasing political participation. Therefore, based on the theory of Norris, religious ideology and beliefs in micro level (sources and motivation), the performance of Khatami’s government in micro and macro level (government structure and motivation), propaganda and debate campaigns in moderate level (electoral laws), and the populist performance of Ahmadi Nezhad in micro level (sources and motivation) were effective on the state of political participation in the 9th and 10th round of presidential election in Iran.