This study investigates voting behavior in Iran as a case of electoral authoritarianism. In analyzing survey data from the Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research (ACECR), I examine the socioeconomic dynamic of voting as well as the effects of sociopolitical views on voting in Iran. In contrast to theories that predict a higher turnout rate among the poor in authoritarian regimes, I show that the socioeconomic dynamic of voting in Iran varies across years and elections. This inconsistency, I propose, may reflect the ambivalent feelings of a fraction of voters toward the election that depends on the context of elections, and electoral campaigning produces various patterns of voting across socioeconomic status and the religious or ethnic background. I found that there is a strong association between sociopolitical views and turnout. In all elections, dissatisfied voters were more likely to stay home on Election Day. Voting behavior also is shaped by respondents' source of income as well as their attitudes toward democratic elections, the state ideology, and the efficacy of voting.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.