The Political Orientation of the Middle and Lower Classes in Iran (1997-2013)

What is it about?

It is well-known that there is a positive relationship between class position and the political orientation of citizens. In such a way that the class position is considered as an independent variable and political orientations as dependent variables. In this research, we will try to survey the political orientations of middle and lower classes in Iran in the two states of Reformist and Principals, namely, the presidency of Khatami, and Ahmadinejad. The main question is that the growth of the middle class tends to make progress in countries, but why the quantitative growth of this class in Iran, has not led to proper progress in our country? The hypothesis of this article is as follows: The growth of the middle class in the advanced countries is linked to their democratic political structures, while in the third world countries due to the rentierity, the middle classes are made by governments. Therefore, they cannot act independently and be effective in the political and cultural development of countries.

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Photo by Majid Korang beheshti on Unsplash

Photo by Majid Korang beheshti on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Frequently, scholars have a direct relationship between the status of class and the political orientations of citizens. The upper classes and the rich are conservative in the political arena for the sake of maintaining their wealth, and they want to maintain the status quo. The lower classes are also unable to play a role in political activities due to plight economic conditions. The middle class, having intellectual and moral independence, has an active presence in political affairs and social change, so there is a significant relationship between the growth and development of countries and the middle class. Our main question was why the growth of the middle class in Iran had not made any progress in our country? This article hypothesizes that there is a direct relationship between the growth of the middle class and the type of government. In the Pahlavi government, despite economic growth, we did not have an independent middle class, because the rentier of the government made the groups dependent on the government and prevented their growth and development. This lack of independence continued in subsequent periods and the Islamic Republic system. Because the state's rentier nature has not changed in both the present and the past governments. In other words, what has changed is the ideology of political regimes and not their rentier nature. Governments in Iran have always been generous by subsidizing certain classes and creating a middle class dependent on the government, who, instead of their historical mission, are considering material benefits and protecting their privileges. As in the subsidy program, the middle class left the government alone. Although the growth of the middle class in advanced countries is linked to their democratic political structures, it is believed that in countries like Iran, the middle classes are being built up by governments because of their rentierity. So, the middle classes cannot act independently and be effective in the political and cultural development of countries.

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