Legitimacy is among the factors that bring stability and effectiveness to a political system. In this article, the writer argues that there is a stronger tendency to keep and amend the basic rules of the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran than to change and replace them. Also, there is a stronger tendency to amend the present rules than to keep them as they are. Political legitimacy, the writer observes, has four dimensions: political attachment, political commitment, confirmation of the legitimacy of the rules, and confirmation of the social benefit of the rules. According to the writer, the latter dimension, which guarantees the citizens' rights in the constitution, is weaker than the other dimensions, and that the mean of political legitimacy stands a bit above average on a scale oF zero to 100. The comparison of the mean of political legitimacy in the three cities mentioned above, specially based on age, education and party affiliation (conservatism/reformism). it becomes clear tl' of the assessments of the basic rules of Iran by the three political grou conservatists, reformists and radicals, the. reformists' approach is the on option that the government can take to amend its loss of political legitimacy. |