بنيان هاي نظري رفتار انتخاباتب شهروندان در جمهوري اسلامي ايران

Media Political Economy and Elections: Theorizing Electoral Inequalities

Election, i.e. political participation, is one ofthe symbols shared by most of the democratic countries. including the Islamic Republic of Iran . To explain citizensʹ participation, their voting preferen ces and the quality of their decisions in selecting and casting vote, three theoretical patterns can be referred to as follows: political sociological approach political economics approach and political psychological approach The present article analyzes these thr ee strands of theories and answers . the question that which one ofthese patterns exp lains the electoral behavior of citizens in the Islamic Republic of Iran . The article stresses that the electora l behavior is a time-i field- and place-based phenomenon; therefore, we cannot reach a universal theory to explain the reason, manner and content of citizens ʹ vote casting across the world, even the constituencies within a single geographical unit. In other words, the principles affe cting citizensʹ behavior in the Islamic Republic of Iran should be looked for in people political culture, their previous experiences and conducts. individuals past interactions with the candidates and social discourses and networks to which voters belong.