The Impact of Iranian Political Culture on Democratic Reforms
Western powers and Iran have had rocky relations for a long time, both holding deeply seeded resentment for the other that dates back much farther than the reign of current rulers from either side. The bad blood between a theocratic Iran and democratic West have been cause for much turmoil for regimes in Iran as they strive to industrialize while at the same time rejecting Western democratic ideals that, in the course of history, accompany long term economic growth. The political culture of Iran is a result of many years of distrust of American and European powers and thus is very much anti-Western, political and clerical leaders have for decades used this sentiment as means to maintain power and reject democratic reforms. It is the political culture of Iran and the culture of fierce Iranian and Islamic nationalism that has slowed much of the democratic development in the country.
Iranian Political System
Iran’s political landscape is complex to say the least, and despite popular American belief it is not fair to classify Iran and the government as a totalitarian regime (Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph 615). A traditional definition of a totalitarian regime is a government in which the leaders, generally a small group of elites, exercise control of public and private life (Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph ch. 1). While it is true that Iran has an assembly of religious clerics whom play a role in determining how the country is run, in recent years the control over public and private life have slipped. Furthermore, the people are responsible for electing the president and legislative branch, Islamic Majles. Iran also maintains a constitution that is a mix of democracy and th...
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...ions in 2009 in which Ahmadinejad won by a landslide, over 90%, despite a vigorous challenge from the opposition, are further evidence of how the anti-Western political culture hinders the development of democracy. One can look back further, to the Islamic Revolution, to see how accusations of the shah “dissemination Western culture” alone led to a complete overthrow of the government.
Past and present political developments in Iran very clearly demonstrate how anger over the 1953 coup and past involvement of foreign powers in Iranian affairs are still very present in the minds of the Iranian voters, clerics and politicians. From the Islamic revolution to recent elections, the threat of Western encroachment in Iranian affairs has continued to play a large role in how the country votes, and consequently how democratic institutions have developed or regressed.
Not only did the religious history play a large role in Iran’s beliefs but also foreign invaders have been imposing their power on the Iranian region for thousands of years. Iran...
Prior to the Islamic Revolution, Iran was ruled by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and furthermore, not governed by religion. The Shah’s White Revolution launched a series of reforms in 1963 that are indicative of where women’s rights for Iran were heading prior to the Islamic revolution. The reforms included, giving women the right to vote, run for office and to become lawyers and judges. This large of a reform in regards to women’s rights, was far more drastic than anything Iran had experienced in the past, and the shock of these “extreme” measures, received a large backlash from over 90% of the population1, the Shia Muslims.
The Iranian government is fighting a losing battle against a rapidly growing Western force. Although Iran is not physically waging war against the United States, the government is fighting to eradicate its increasing cultural influence in Iran. The young, Iranian population is currently speaking out against the Islamic Republic’s attempts to rid the country of Western culture, demanding more freedom and less censorship, similar to how Marjane Satrapi acts out against the regime in Persepolis.
The face of American democracy is deceptive; from missionary trips to military tours, America has established a presence in the Middle East, and has always projected itself to be the perfect image of a democratic and free nation where everyone is equal. While America tries to up hold their motto of being the land of the free, American media has presented Arabs as unintelligent and violent people. Because of the way America presents itself to the rest of the world, one would be surprised if they traveled to America only to find violence and ignorance amongst its government and citizens. While Western civilization believes itself to be on a higher level than Eastern civilization, this orientalist view blinds America from seeing the similarities
First, the Shah, out-of-touch with what his people wanted, became the catalyst for massive xenophobic and anti-Western feelings to spread throughout the nation. By giving up traditional Islamic ideals and becoming sort of a “puppet” for the U.S. and the Western world, the Shah made a mockery of himself and of those traditional Islamic values, which were paramount in Iran. For many years, Iranians wrote letters to the Shah, voicing their discontent with many aspects of his rule — the spread of the Bahá’í Faith, the collapse of Islamic traditions, and the crumbling economy. The Shah, however, did nothing to fix these issues. Instead, he designed a political reformation movement, hoping to silence his opponents, to introduce personal rights for women, and to establish a sense of fiscal equality. This series of reforms, which appeared to be a blatant attempt to Westernize Iran, became known as the “White
One thing that I noticed with regard to the differences between the Iran and America culture is that the Iran culture is more conservative while the American culture is more liberal. For example, in Iran if a couple goes out on a date, it is always the
In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.
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After the deposing of the shah by revolution, the people of Iran elected a democratic l...
In February of 1979, Muhammad Reza Shah was in exile and Ayatollah Khomeini arrived as the triumphant leader of a revolution. Throughout the remainder of the year, the execution of former prime ministers, SAVAK agents, and high- ranking military officers took place. Muhammad Reza Shah’s regime was no longer in power and the Iranian Revolution was in full effect, but what caused this rapid shift of power? In the years leading up to the revolution, the Shah implemented the White Revolution in attempts to modernize Iran. The White Revolution was an attempt to turn Iran into an economic power, however; it went against many of the core beliefs of Islam. The White revolution of the 1960’s and 1970’s caused the Iranian revolution because it marginalized
Political culture plays a vital role in determining what types of policies are implemented in respected states. The political culture can include, the role citizens of the respected state see government being used for, the political ideology of each state, and the balance between powers of each party, and also the makeup of the government in each state, and how that affects legislation. I think when looking at policies for states these four factors play the most important role in determining policy directions for each state. Through this paper I will be examining the political culture and setup of two states being Illinois, and Indiana. These are two states that have very different political ideologies, view on how government should be used, and different structures of governments in relation to party ideology. When examining these states, I feel that the political landscape, and beliefs towards one party ideology, and view on role of government and current setup of each state government will play the biggest role in determining the policy landscape between different issues and why they were used.
In this paper, I will first describe the history and creation of the Iranian high courts. I will pay particular attention to how the Islamic revolution and other important events have shaped the court into what it is today. I will also explain the extremely unique and complicated structure of the judiciary system, paying particular attention to the supreme courts and its power.
Zakaria, F. (2007). The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (Revised Edition). New York: W. W. Norton.
Although the Iranian Revolution was both a political and religious movement in that it resulted in major shifts in government structure from an autocracy to a republic and that Islamic beliefs were fought to be preserved, it was more a religious movement in that the primary goal of the people was to preserve traditional ideology and in that the government became a theocracy intertwined with religious laws and desires of the people. Although the Iranian Revolution was caused by combination of political and religious motivations and ideas, the desires of the people supporting the movement were more dominantly religious ideas that were wished to be imposed in society and in a new government. The Shah, or king, of Iran at the time was Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, who had developed relations with nations in the “western” world, specifically with the United States. The United States supported the White Revolution, which was a series of social reformations the Shah made to remove Islamic values, law and tradition from the government to boost the country’s economy (White Revolution, 2010).... ...