Continuation of the plurality of political forces and factors affecting it in Iran after the Islamic Revolution

There are different ideas about democracy. One of the relatively new views that have been raised in this regard is the view of democratic pluralism. According to this view, the basis of democracy is the plurality of active groups in politics and their competition in the form of elections to gain power. In general, pluralist democracy is based on three principles: multiplicity of sources of power and groups, competitive electoral system and lack of desirability of broad political participation.The current research tries to look at the political situation of Iran in the years after the Islamic revolution based on the theory of democratic pluralism. In Iran, after the revolution, for various reasons, political parties have not had an effective presence in politics, and instead of them, political factions have been active in the political arena. The question of the current research is, "What were the reasons for the continued multiplicity of active political forces in Iran's political arena after the revolution, and what effect did this multiplicity have on political development in Iran?" The hypothesis is that in the years after the revolution, despite the desire of each of the factions to eliminate the rival faction from the political arena, the plurality of political factions has continued and this continuity is rooted in the social base of different factions. Descriptive-analytical method has been used to test the hypothesis. The findings show that the continuation of the plurality of political factions in the years after the Islamic Revolution and their competition has prevented the complete unification of power and the destruction of democracy