University of Tehran Iranian Journal of Public Policy 2538-5577 9 1 2023 05 22 Investigating How the Virtual Public Sphere Affects Political Participation Investigating How the Virtual Public Sphere Affects Political Participation 80 92 92989 10.22059/jppolicy.2023.92989 FA Akram Abbasniya PhD Student of Political Sociology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad university, Tehran, Iran Mahbobe Paknia Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Nasrin Mossafa Professor of the Department of International Relations, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2023 07 04 With the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of tools based on it, social scientists have raised high hopes for a return to the concept of the Habermas public sphere in new media. The main question for this group of thinkers was, did the Habermas public sphere take on a new life on social media? Following the studies and researches, two categories of results can be mentioned: First, there are studies that emphasize the possibility of forming a public sphere in cyberspace. The second is the research that confirmed the impossibility of forming a public sphere in cyberspace. But a third approach has developed that,  Emphasizing the third approach, we try to examine how the virtual public sphere affects political participation .In this study, while considering these three approaches, with emphasis on the third approach, The purpose of this research is to answer the question of how the virtual public sphere affects the category of political participation. The results obtained in the conducted surveys strengthen the hypothesis that benefiting from the virtual public sphere can be effective in strengthening political participation. With the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of tools based on it, social scientists have raised high hopes for a return to the concept of the Habermas public sphere in new media. The main question for this group of thinkers was, did the Habermas public sphere take on a new life on social media? Following the studies and researches, two categories of results can be mentioned: First, there are studies that emphasize the possibility of forming a public sphere in cyberspace. The second is the research that confirmed the impossibility of forming a public sphere in cyberspace. But a third approach has developed that,  Emphasizing the third approach, we try to examine how the virtual public sphere affects political participation .In this study, while considering these three approaches, with emphasis on the third approach, The purpose of this research is to answer the question of how the virtual public sphere affects the category of political participation. The results obtained in the conducted surveys strengthen the hypothesis that benefiting from the virtual public sphere can be effective in strengthening political participation. https://jppolicy.ut.ac.ir/article_92989_7e4bfd43a7d1bd4cd127b5e3f2f5aad8.pdf