Iran has been an “Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic
Revolution” and is a “mixture of theocracy and democracy” with political system
emphasis based on “clerical authority and popular sovereignty, on the divine
right of the clergy and the rights of the people, on concepts derived from
early Islam and from modern democratic principles (Kesselman, Krieger, and
Joseph, 579-580). Before looking at the
Iranian political structure and attempting to identify which portions are democratic
and which are not, two points must be considered:
1. The Iranian
population consists of 89% Shia Muslims, 9% Sunni Muslim, with Christian, Jews
and others comprising the remaining 2% (CIA, 2013). These demographics actually support the
argument that theocracy and democracy function together in the case of Iran’s
constitution which “affirms faith in God, Divine Justice, the Qur’an, the Day
of Judgment, the Prophet Muhammad, the Twelve Imams, the eventual return of the
Hidden Imam (the Mahdi)” (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph, 599). While the U.S. Supreme Court reviews
legislation based on the U.S. Constitution, the Iranian constitution is aimed
toward Islam and the teaching of the Quran.
It is irresponsible for a person from the West to criticize the political
structure of Iran, especially those who have not studied Islam in order to
understand Islam, by denouncing Iran’s political structure as
undemocratic. With 98% of the Iranian
population being Muslim, theocracy and democracy co-exist and function as a
system equivalent to any political system in the west.
2. While most
developing states are post-colonial possessions that inherited European style
government structures after colonial withdrawal and so-called state
independence in the first decades of capitalist globalization, “Iran was never
formally colonized by the European imperial powers and has always been
independent” (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph, 617).
So how democratic is the Islamic Republic?
The Iranian presidency, limited to two four year terms, is
elected by the “general public” and “all citizens, both male and female, over
the age of eighteen have the right to vote (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph, 599). If a “candidate does not win a majority of
the vote in the first round of the election, a run-off chooses between the two
top vote getters” (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph, 601). The “executive power for the president” is
defined in the “constitution of the Islamic Republic” and once elected the Iranian
president has the responsibilities to “conduct the country’s internal and
external policies, including signing all international treaties, laws, and
agreements; chair the National Security Council, which is responsible for
defense matters; draw up the annual budget, supervise economic matters, and
chair the state planning and budget organization”, as well as the
responsibility to propose legislation to the Majles (Kesselman, Krieger, and
Joseph, 601).
The legislative branch of Iran consists of a unicameral
body, the Majles, that consists of 290 seats and is elected by direct national
elections “every four years” (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph, 580). The Majles “can remove cabinet members—with
the exception of the president—through a parliamentary vote of no confidence”
and “can withhold approval for government budgets, foreign loans, international
treaties, and cabinet appointments” (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph, 609).
In addition to a president and a legislative body being
elected by popular vote, the “Assembly of Experts is elected every eight years
by the general public” (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph,601). It is this eighty-six member Assembly of
Experts that “appoints the Supreme Leader”, that is placed to “supervise the
supreme leader’s capabilities to determine whether he is able to perform his
duties”, and to “dismiss him if he is unable to perform his constitutional
duties or it becomes known that he did not possess some of the initial
qualifications such as “social and political wisdom, prudence, courage,
administrative facilities and adequate capability for leadership” (Farhi).
Overall, the structure of the Iranian political system
appears highly democratic and quite different from how it is usually portrayed
on Fox News.
The Supreme Leader, appointed by the democratically elected
eighty-six member Assembly of Experts, is often the center of democratic
criticism from the capitalist western states, especially the United
States. The state constitution “gives
wide-ranging powers to the Leader” which allows the elimination of “presidential
candidates”, and “as commander-in-chief, he can mobilize the armed forces,
declare war and peace, and convene the Supreme Military Council. He can appoint
and dismiss the commanders of Revolutionary Guards as well as those of the
regular army, navy, and air force. (Kesselman, Krieger, and Joseph,600). One of the most interesting nongovernment
posts held by the spiritual leader is “director of the national
radio-television network”. Again, the
Supreme Leader is not some unchecked power and is held to his constitutional
duties, a constitution which is aimed toward Islam, by the Assembly of Experts
(Farhi).
The Guardian Council is the “most influential body in the
Iranian system and is comprised of “six theologians appointed by the Supreme
Leader and six jurists nominated by the judiciary and approved by parliament”
(BBC). While the Majles is the main
legislative branch, “bills do not become law unless the Guardian Council deems
them compatible with Islam and the Islamic constitution.” (Kesselman, Krieger,
and Joseph, 580). The review process
ensures that passed bills “conform to the shari’a” (Kesselman, Krieger, and
Joseph, 603). The Guardian Council is
also the body that approves election candidates based on compatibility to the
Islamic Republic and Islam.
The following news report link from WMTV in Madison,
Wisconsin is a democratic example of elections in Iran and is entitled “Iran
Citizens vote for president at Wisconsin Hotel”.
http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Iran-citizens-vote-for-president-at-Wis-hotel-211571441.html
RESOURCES:
BBC News. 2013. Iran: Who Holds the Power? Accessed on December 4, 2013. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/iran_power/html/guardian_council.stm
CIA. 2013. CIA World Factbook. Accessed on December 4, 2013. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html
Farideh Farhi.
2013. The Assembly of
Experts. United States Institute of
Peace. Accessed on December 4,
2013. http://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/assembly-experts
Mark Kesselman, Joel Krieger, and William Joseph. 2013.
Introduction to Comparative Politics, 6th edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth
No comments:
Post a Comment