People's Participation in Elections as a Criterion for Political Legitimacy

Elections are considered as a big legitimacy test for the ruling system in every country; hence, regardless of who or which political party wins the elections, people’s participation in elections and their number of votes enhance the growth and dynamism of the political atmosphere of every society. It further indicates that the ruling system has the necessary degree of authority to tolerate the political factions. On the other hand, people’s participation in elections is a subject of study in different sciences such as political sciences, social psychology and sociology. Although the studies conducted in this context have produced more or less differing results and opinions and have consequently made the coherent tapping of this social phenomenon difficult, the opinions and theories presented in each study field can contribute to its phenomenology. Given the fact that following the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a numberof elections have been held across the country each year, the scientific and systematic study of this phenomenon seems to be necessary so that the behavior of the participants can be analyzed and the strengths and weaknesses of the elections planning can be found out. The present article attempts to fulfill this objective by studying the aforementioned attitudes.