Refusal of Party Governance;‌ An Analytical Introduction to the Relationship ‌between the Party System &‌ the Electoral System in Iran

If we consider the main task of the parties to achieve power and obtain the seats of the representatives, the most important issue facing political actors is to provide institutional and legal framework for the political participation of individuals and groups of society, and in this regard, the electoral system and its relationship with the party system matters. In Iran, due to weakness of the electoral system, the party system faces a crisis of lack of institutionalization and instability. Therefore, the main question of this article is why, despite the freedom to form political parties in Iranian law, party governance have not been formed? This article, using a descriptive-analytical method and using an institutionalist perspective, seeks to examine the role of the legal system and, consequently, the laws and regulations governing parties and elections in shaping and consolidating the party system in Iran. The study of the laws governing the parties since the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran shows that the creation of various barriers and the imbalance between the rights and duties of parties in these laws are the main and direct factors of the lack of institutionalization of parties and party governance. In fact, the institutional rules )electoral law and parties( in the Islamic Republic have destroyed and weakened them instead of encouraging the formation and consolidation of party mechanisms.