TEHRAN The issue of activities of political groups and parties has often been raised in academic and political circles in recent years, and many groups have announced their formation as political parties.
But from the scientific point of view, they cannot be called political parties.
The fact is that the mere formation of parties does not necessarily indicate the society's readiness for party activities, but such readiness requires certain conditions that should be met first.
The TEHRAN TIMES interviewed a political science expert, Dr.
Seyed Rahim Abolhassani, regarding these conditions, whether these conditions can be met in Iran and the reasons for the lack of success of parties in the history of the Iranian society.
The text of the interview is as follows: Q: What measures should be taken to prepare the ground for the formation of parties and facilitate their activities in society? A: The formation of parties depends on several factors. Moreover, in order for the parties to carry out their special activities, certain conditions such as cultural conditions should be met first.
In order to institutionalize a phenomenon in society, a steady and strong behavioral pattern should be promoted in society first.
In the same way, in order to form parties, in the first place party structure and behavior should be institutionalized in society.
One of the cultural conditions that should be met before formation of parties is promoting the culture of participation in society.
This culture falls into the following categories: Subordinate, neutral and indifferent; local and tribal; and culture of active participation.
A society governed by tribal, local or regional culture cannot engage in party activities, since such activities are of an encompassing nature.
Moreover, in a society governed by subordinate culture, in which people rely on officials for any decision, parties will not prove successful, since parties control power and are not consistent with a subordinate culture.
So, formation of parties requires a culture of active participation, in which people play their due role in different sections of the system.
Another subject which is important in preparing the cultural ground is people's views and their confidence in their presence on the political scene.
People's pessimistic view on politics and their lack of confidence in their presence on the political scene will lead to their isolation and lack of participation. And this is not an appropriate ground for the formation of parties.
Another important factor for the formation of parties is the citizens' attitude toward one another. This attitude should be based on understanding and harmony. If this attitude exists in society, we can hope for the promotion of party behavior.
Human development is also a factor helping to prepare the cultural ground for the formation of parties.
Party activities require a high level of education and mental and intellectual capabilities. The more educated citizens are, the more prepared they are for party activities.
The acceptance of the culture of party activities is also crucial for preparing this cultural ground. In our society, we often raise the slogan of the necessity to form parties, but unfortunately we have not yet adopted the culture of party activities. Some people think that they can form a party without spending the necessary time on it.
Party activities are in fact political activities which require involvement in political issues. Practice is needed in order to get used to party activities.
Among other factors needed for the formation of parties is preparing the economic ground for this formation. Here, two subjects should be dealt with. The first is the distribution of wealth and the issue of ownership.
There are several sources of power in society, among which are wealth and ownership of property. Party activities are possible in a country where wealth is fairly distributed.
If wealth is controlled by a certain group in society, other groups will not be able to engage in party activities.
That is because the above group will use its wealth to repress other groups. In countries where such groups take power, the government is not accountable to the people. Thus, it is not in favor of party activities either.
Therefore, state ownership and government's control over huge national resources are great hurdles in the way of the formation of parties. That is why no parties are formed in socialist systems.
In the Islamic Republic system, public wealth is at the disposal of the government. The Islamic Republic should work out a mechanism so that the government may only be in charge of managing and making policies about public wealth, not owning it.
The second subject to be dealt with is economic development, which means economic growth and specialization of work force.
The higher the number of specialized work force in a country, the greater the readiness for the formation of parties.
The formation of parties also depends on certain social conditions.
Social structure and condition of different strata are important factors in this regard. Parties can carry out activities after social strata are defined.
That is because parties further the interests of different social strata. Thus, as long as these strata are not clearly defined, no need will be felt for the formation of parties.
From the social point of view, in order for the parties to be formed, the interests of different strata such as farmers, workers, intellectuals and state employees should be clearly defined, and these strata should become aware of their interests as well.
Moreover, it is necessary that civil groups be formed out of these strata. These groups can follow two mechanisms for furthering their interests. The first is to act as interest groups like labor or agriculture unions. The second is to form a party collectively.
Hence, as long as interest groups and civil groups are not formed in society, there will be no hope of the formation of parties.
From the political point of view, an appropriate political structure is needed for the formation of parties.
An appropriate political structure means a balanced, pluralistic and modified structure.
In other words, political structure should have several sections in society, and these sections should check and balance one another through supervision and control.
It is clear that power is a phenomenon which will become centralized if it is not divided into parts and if this division is not balanced.
This centralization of power will result in the elimination of political cooperation and participation, which will in turn remove any ground for party activities.
(To be contd.)