An Analysis of the Stagnation Causes of the Iranian Political Culture

In examining Iran's political culture, the "historical, cultural, cognitive and psychological" approach is of great importance. In the historical approach, political culture is criticized and explored with a long-term and historical-oriented view; in the psychological approach, the moral traits and general morals of the Iranian people are considered and in the cultural approach, the factors that underlie the political culture of Iran and the influence of the three cultural fields of "Iranian, Islamic and Western" are given priority. In the contemporary period, several dependent variables have influenced political culture, including; Demographic developments, changing levels of education and the population pyramid of the middle class, the process of industrialization and increasing urbanization, increasing the level of knowledge of the people, increasing relations with the outside world, globalization of culture and communication and information and changing the one-way flow of government with the people. He noted the growing popularity of modern reference groups (academics, intellectuals, modernist clerics). At the same time, there are serious disagreements about the causes of the immutability of political culture - despite the great political, economic, social, cultural developments of the contemporary period. From the author's point of view, the stagnant causes of Iranian political culture are a collection of various historical, structural, brokerage, political, sociological, cultural, psychological, and economic factors. For this reason, the five variables "public culture"; "Epistemological system"; "The structure of the Persian language"; "Provincial system"; "Cultural underdevelopment" and "the relationship between the state and the nation" have been considered as the main parameters in explaining the current situation. Thus, Iran's political culture is the result of political, economic, and especially cultural structures formed throughout Iran's history; To change the foundations of a subordinate political culture based on the principle of citizenship, and to establish a participatory political culture, it is necessary to reform the educational system at an early age (ration-al political culture) and to reform the economic structure (non-governmental production of resources and wealth). Attention should be paid to the principle of "culture building" as the top priority of "civil society" and "government" for a long period of time. Accordingly, a fundamental change in Iran's political culture and the institutionalization of participatory political culture would not have been possible without the use of the capacity of intellectual and instrumental elites. This impact will be lasting and institutionalized if it begins in the field of education, especially at an early age.