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The Iranian Parliamentary Elections of 1975

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Hassan Mohammadi-Nejad
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Extract

In Western democracies elections are viewed as a means by which the public controls the policies of the government and decides who the policy-makers should be. Democratic theory makes two basic assumptions about elections: one is that the electorate is generally informed to the extent that it can make a meaningful and rational choice among various policy alternatives; the other, that the electorate expresses its policy preferences through recognizable partisan groupings in a two- or multiparty system.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , January 1977 , pp. 103 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

1 Dahl, Robert A., A Preface to Democratic Theory (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956), p. 131.Google Scholar See also, Campbell, Angus, The American Voter (New York: John Wiley, 1964), pp. 281–286.Google Scholar

2 Milne, R. S., “Election in Developing Countries,” in Kebschull, Harvey G., ed. Politics in Transitional Societies (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1968), p. 220.Google Scholar

3 Iran Novin, the then dominant ruling party, Mardom, Iranian, and Pan-Iranist parties.

4 Rastakhiz, 05 3, 1975 (Ordibehesht 13, 1354), p. 7.Google Scholar

5 The 1st Majlis was elected in 1906. The ist Senate was elected in 1950. The term of both houses had been set for two years, but in 1956 it was extended to four years.

6 According to the Iranian election laws, the Majlis candidates must be (1) Muslim, (2) Iranian citizen, (3) literate, (4) known in the constituency, (5) no less than 25 and no more than 70 years old, and (6) reputable as trustworthy and honest. The Sena candidates must have these qualifications: (1) be known in the constituency or born there, (2) at least 40 years old, (3) reputable as trustworthy and honest and insightful in public affairs, (4) Muslim, except for one candidate who might represent one of the three religious minorities of Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian, (5) belong to one of these categories: high-status clergy, three-term Majlis representative, former minister, ambassador, governor, Supreme Court Justice, judicial duties with at least 20 years of experience, retired general, full professor with at least 10 years in the rank of professorship, someone with at least 20 years of record as minister plenipotentiary or under-secretary of ministry, landlord and businessman whose yearly taxes exceed 500,000 rials ($7,000), and lawyer with the doctorate degree if 15 years in the profession, 20 years without the doctorate. See: Ministry of Interior, Majmucych Ghavanin va Aycen Namehayeh Entekliabat Majlis Shoraye Melli va Majlis Sena (Collection of Laws and Directives for Elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate) (Tehran: Daftar Entekhabat, n.d.), pp. 6–7 and 53–54.Google Scholar The Iranian law bars the following individuals from voting: insane, social outcast, criminal, army, police, gendarmeri and security officer, beggar, foreign national, and political convict.

7 The total number of seats in the Majlis are 268 and in the Sena, 60. Only half the seats in the Sena are elective. The remaining half are appointed by the Shahanshah. The Majlis seats are apportioned among 175 constituencies on the basis of population (approximately one seat per 200,000 population). The religious minorities of Armenians in the north and center, Armenians in the south, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Assyrians and Chaldeans are entitled to one seat each through special elections. Fifteen of the 30 elective seats in the Sena are allocated to Tehran and its vicinities and the remaining fifteen to other major cities. In the Majlis elections, Tehran has the largest share of seats with 27 representatives chosen collectively, that is a voter may vote for as many as 27 candidates from among 109 candidates that the party had approved for Tehran. This system gives the Iranian voter as many votes as seats have been allocated to the constituency in which he lives. The second largest constituency was Tabriz with 9 seats, followed by Shiraz with 7, Isfahan with 5, Ahwaz, Abadan, Babol, Rasht, Rezaieh, Karaj, and Kermanshah with 3 seats each. A total of 25 constituencies were allocated 2 seats each and the remaining 139 constituencies had one seat each.

8 Kayhan, International Edition, 05 12, 1975 (Ordibehesht 22, 1354), p. 1.Google Scholar

9 The total population of Iran, in 1975, was estimated at about 35 million. The minimum voting age for the Majlis elections was 20 and for the Sena 25. In addition, the voter had to be a Muslim, Iranian citizen, either born in the constituency or resided there no less than six months, not guilty of bankruptcy, not a beggar or engaged in disreputable occupations, not a convict, and not a member of the armed forces and the police.

10 In the past, the total number of such investigators had never exceeded 20 in a single election. Besides, most of these 200 investigators were chosen from among young and foreign-educated university teachers. See Ettelaat, 05 15, 1975 (Ordibehesht 25, 1354), p. 4.Google Scholar

11 Rastakhiz, 05 24, 1975 (Khordad 3, 1354), p. 2.Google Scholar

12 Ibid.

13 On the evening of June 18, just hours before finishing registration, the state-controlled radio and television networks began denying the charges that nonvoting would result in deprivation of certain social and political rights. Quoting an unidentified high-ranking government official, Iran's radio and television stations repeatedly stated that such charges were made by “the enemies of the people” and were nothing but insults to the unprecedented voluntary participation of the people in politics.

14 Kayhan, 05 31, 1975 (Khordad 10, 1354), p. 1.Google Scholar

15 No exact figures were given. This was the first of a series of purposive-sample surveys conducted by Kayhan newspaper. See Kayhan, 05 25, 1975 (Khordad 4, 1354), p. 5.Google Scholar

16 Rastakhiz, 05 31, 1975 (Khordad 10, 1354), p. 10.Google Scholar

17 Rastakhiz, , 05 29, 1975 (Khordad 8, 1354), pp. 1 and 17.Google Scholar

18 They included Mohammad Fazaeli, the last secretary-general of Mardom, Holako Rambod, Mardom's minority leader in the Majlis, and Mostafa Alamoti, Iran Novin's majority leader in the Majlis. See Ayandegan, 05 29, 1975 (Khordad 8, 1354), p. 1.Google Scholar

19 Kayhan, 05 7, 1975 (Khordad 17, 1354), p. 22.Google Scholar

20 Ibid., p. 2.

21 Ibid., p. 22.

22 See, for instance, Kayhan, 06 10, 1975 (Khordad 20, 1354), p. 1.Google Scholar, for an attempted fraud in the city of Kazeroon; Kayhan, 06 12, 1975 (Khordad 22, 1354) p. 2.Google Scholar, for mismanagement and attempted fraud in Kermanshah and Najaf-Abad; and Kayhan, 06 14, 1975 (Khordad 24, 1354), p. 2.Google Scholar for similar reports from the village of Kamjan, near the city of Zarghan in the Fars province.

23 Kayhan, 06 14, 1975 (Khordad 24, 1354), p. 1.Google Scholar

24 Altogether 11,000 voting centers (polls) were set up in the country, including some 1,013 in Tehran.

25 Rastakhiz, 06 21, 1975 (Khordad 31, 1354), p. 1Google Scholar; and Ettelaat, 06 21, 1975, p. 28.Google Scholar