A Glance on Iranian Women Political Participation in 2001-2011

The quality of political participation of women is one of the main indictors of political and social development, which paves the way for sustainable development as well. One of the most important manifestations of this participation is taking part in voting to elect people’s representatives in various institutions. Women’s votes can be considered a basic factor that can lead to important changes in legislative capacities in order to improve women’s situation in various areas. Representatives, who take charge of decisionmaking and executive posts through women’s votes, will naturally or under women’s pressure have to be more careful about decisions that pertain to women. However, promoting women’s participation in practice depends on a variety of factors. If the society is to benefit from political participation of women, these factors should be identified and assessed. One of the most important factors is the general course of political developments in the country. This article’s core question is: What factors affect quality of women’s political participation in Iran? Our central argument is that mass political participation of the Iranian women was growing during 20012011 through the strong role that women played in various elections. The method applied in this paper blends descriptive and analytical approaches.