Feasibility of Holding Congressional Election at Provincial Level in Islamic Republic of Iran

Elections, now a days, plays an important role in citizens political participation and control of official decision making process in a democratic political system. Parliament in Iran has a precedence of one century but because of some shortages, elections and parliament Organization have not been able to accomplish their main function in the best manner. In order to eliminate current shortages of congressional elections, it has been proposed to be conducted at provincial level. However, due to some reasons, it has not been fulfilled as of yet. In this research, we are going to assess substitution feasibility of this layout to current system by using a descriptive-analytical method. In other word, this research is going to answer he following questions: is it possible to change the current system of congressional election at district level? If so, what kind of challenges will be encountered? To answer these questions, authors assume that it is possible to change electorate’s border and adapt it to provincial border even in the absence of required infrastructures. Results of this study reveal that holding congressional election at provincial level could eliminate some of the present problems facing effective functioning of this institution. However, in the case of not providing required infrastructures, it could lead to the problems such as increase in election expenses, entering of rich candidates to congress, and lack of tendency on the part of representative to pay attention to the social problems, public needs and demands at local level.