Masses' Political Role in Contemporary Iran: a Review and Analysis of Masses' Impact on Political Changes

In different periods of Iranian contemporary history from the Constitutional Revolution till the Oil Nationlisation Movement and the Islamic Revolution, masses of people have been one of most effective political forces that played a constructive role in Iranian politics. Since there were no stable political parties in Iran, a gap of a systematic opposition was felt, and this gap has been filled by masses in different occasions. But the character of masses is different from both the individual participants and other political forces, and therefore, understanding actions and reactions of masses need in-depth historical studies. In this research paper beside theoretical discussions, features of masses and the mobilizing powers behind them as well as counter-masses movements have been studied. In sum, it could be argued that although in Iranian contemporary history a few political forces have shown a good ability in mass mobilisation, the clerics, hand in hand with merchants and guilds, have shown the most successful mobilizing power.