Analysis of Performance of the Islamic City Councils in Iran

City councils are assumed to be one of the most important institutions for decentralization and realization of balanced development based on spatial-geographical features in Iran. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, city councils were formed in 1999 and have a relatively short history. On the basis of the evaluation of the city councils’ life within four periods we can point to their not very favorable performance considering the goals set out in the related laws and documents. The present essay is trying to examine and analyze the reasons for their lack of success in different aspects. Our statistical population consisted of members of the city councils across the country, members of the parliament and experts in areas related to the city councils. Single sample t-test was used to investigate the function of the councils. To express the relationship between two variables and also prove significant or not significant relationship between them and the impact of each independent variable on the dependent variable, a bivariate linear regression analysis was used. The results indicate that the centralization, the rentier system and ambiguous legal status have led to unsatisfactory performance of the councils in Iran.