Political Participation and its Impact on the National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran

The foundation of national power in each country depends on the strength of its internal structure of power components, and national power is largely a function of public engagement in various fields of a political system. Weak political participation weakens and challenges national power and national security, and, therefore, leads to the formation of security crisis, of which typical examples could be seen in neighboring countries. National security crisis in Iraq and the central government's inability to deal decisively with ISIS indicates the relationship between national power, political participation and the strength of internal structure of a nation's power. The purpose of this paper is to determine the national power’s indices relevant to political participation, and to examine the relationship between political participation, as a key component of political power, and the strength of internal structure of national power. This study based on documentary evidence, experts opinions and analytical method, seeks to answer this question: What are the national power indices relevant to citizen’s political participation? And what is its relationship with the strength of internal structure of national power? The results of this study indicated that among the national power indices relevant to political participation, indicators like political legitimacy, maintaining independence and territorial integrity, the effectiveness of the political system, national strength, political stability, crisis management, political integration and development, have the highest impacts on the strength of internal structure of Islamic Republic's national power, respectively.