ABSTRACT
Despite a Western gaze positing Iran’s electoral process as a mere formality, since its inception on 1 April 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has held 12 presidential elections, with a mostly impressive voter turnout. More recently, televised public debates have been incorporated into the campaign process. This chapter looks more closely at what occurred during key electoral years, beginning with the turbulent elections of 2009, the first year of televised debates, and continuing with the elections in 2013 and 2017. The chapter delves in detail into the people involved in each election year, including presidential candidates, supreme powers of Iran, media personalities, protestors, and social media users. While it looks at each year distinctly, the chapter also shows the shift in the Republic’s electoral process over the past ten years, and examines how live televised debates have changed, beginning with one-on-one duels in 2009, moving to messy, gameshow-like debates in 2013, and finally ending with tense, accusatory debates in 2017. In examining televised debates, the chapter aims to show the complex dynamic nature of Iran’s political process, necessary for the anticipated high-stake elections in 2021.
