Sovereignty, Authority, and Power in Iran
Description of Iran's regime
Iran is a unitary presidential theocratic republic that is governed under the constitution of 1979. The constitution of 1979 clearly states that all democratic procedures and rights in Iran are subordinate to the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council. Iran's regime is based on religious beliefs that include there is only one God, understanding God's divine nature is fundamental in setting laws, and the leadership is qualified in regard to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
Unitary VS. Federalism Iran is under a unitary system rather than a federal system because there is only one central government that is responsible for making decisions and possesses freat political power. The central government is consisted of the Supreme Leader, president, parliament, assembly of experts, council of Guardians, expediency council, judiciary, and national security and intelligence. Ali Khamenei is the Supreme Leader of Iran and has much authority by limiting the power of other governmental divisions, such as the council of Guardians and the President. Centralization VS. Devolution Iran has a greater tendency toward centralization than devolution. Even if the people have rights to participate in presidential elections, the candidates of these presidential elections are chosen by the Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader is also responsible for determining the candidates of the Guardian Council, leaders of the Judiciary and other divisions. Furthermore, he serves as the supervision of "the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and has the authority to intervene in any issues that happen in Iran. Since religious beliefs are central to Iranian politics, the public do not have much political power to influence governmental decisions. Consensus VS. Coericion Consensus and coercion both exist in Iran. However, coercion is much more common. Government officials use consensus to discuss new laws while the citizens use coercion to show their demands. Protests lead by Iranian citizens are considered as coercion. Thus, the government use coercion too so that they can control and suppress these protests by using the military. For example, the Revolutionary Guard places a large number of police on the streets to keep an eye on the protestors. In some extreme situations, the police fire tear gas and paintballs at protestors. |
Iranian government's sources of legitimacy
Iranian government's sources of legitimacy are religion, tradition, regal-law, and the leaders' charisma.
Since Iranian government is a theocracy, Iranian regime is fundamentally based on religion (Islam). In fact, the supreme leader, who is the religious leader, of Iran holds the most power in Iranian government; the supreme leader controls the military and all three branches (judicial, legislative, and executive) of government. The supreme leader can hold such power because he is a respected religious leader and because people have strong faith in their clerics and Islamic rule. The government of Iran is also legitimate because it is traditional. Ever since 1979, the Iranian revolution, the supreme leader has been elected by the Council of Experts, in which members are elected by the citizens. The first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stayed in power from 1979 to 1989 until he died, setting the tradition: Supreme Leader stays in power until he or she dies unless the Council of Experts finds the leader inappropriate to rule. Hence, the the current Supreme Leader's (Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei) ultimate power and his life-long term is accepted by the citizens. To most of Iranian citizens, the government is reasonable and legal because they are strong believers of Islam and it is also written in the constitution of Iran. Even if it is not explicitly stated on the constitution, Iranians would still regard their Supreme Leader legitimate because of their strong faith in their religious leader. Iranian government's legitimacy also heavily depends on the leaders' charisma because Supreme Leader and the president must be elected through voting. The Supreme Leader is elected by Council of Experts while the president is voted by the citizens. However, currently, these legitimacy of Iranian government is doubted by the citizens. Iran is currently divided into two big groups: the conservatives and the liberals. The conservatives are the people who support current regime, and the Liberals are the people who seek for some change in the government system. Two groups agree that the government should maintain the Islamic system, yet the Liberals ask for more freedom in the press and reduce in power of the Guardian Council. |
Ideology
The current Iranian government's ideology is a mix of theocracy and democracy. The government's fundamental system such as the supreme leader, law, and legislature are based on Islamic laws. Yet, the government also employs democracy by holding presidential election and other elections. However, many foreign nations, such as the United States, still considers democracy in Iranian government weak and insufficient.
Autonomy
The Supreme Leader of Iran has a strong autonomy. Whatever he calls for and requests are considered highly legitimate, and so many people do not question the Supreme Leader’s will. On the other hand, the president of Iran is considered to have less autonomy than the Supreme Leader does. A lot of president’s power is checked by the Supreme Leader. In fact, the president does not have the control over the military. Hence, the power of the president is questioned by many young Iranians before the 1979 Iranian Revolution. They ask for democratic reform in the government, which is currently more authoritarian. However, there is also a conservative force composed of older people who do not want change in current political system.
Iran’s stance in the international world thus depends on the president’s political viewpoint. A conservative president is more likely to carry out policies regardless of United States’ opinion while a liberal president is more likely to compromise with United States and reform the government by reflecting United States’ opinion.
Iran’s stance in the international world thus depends on the president’s political viewpoint. A conservative president is more likely to carry out policies regardless of United States’ opinion while a liberal president is more likely to compromise with United States and reform the government by reflecting United States’ opinion.
Helpful Links
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/iran-government.html
http://www.iranchamber.com/government/articles/structure_of_power.php
http://psi203.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Keddie,%20Iranian%20Revolutions%20in%20Comp%20Perspective%20%281983%29.pdf
http://www.parstimes.com/gov_iran.html
http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-8.html
http://www.ihavenet.com/Iran-Crisis-of-Legitimacy.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/inside/govt.html
http://www.iranchamber.com/government/articles/structure_of_power.php
http://psi203.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Keddie,%20Iranian%20Revolutions%20in%20Comp%20Perspective%20%281983%29.pdf
http://www.parstimes.com/gov_iran.html
http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-8.html
http://www.ihavenet.com/Iran-Crisis-of-Legitimacy.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/inside/govt.html