Iran

Open Access Article

1 - Structural Factors Affecting the Occurrence of the Islamic Revolution in Iran
يحيي‌ ‌ فوزي

This paper studies the structural factors or, in other words, the long term causes that brought about the revolution in Iran; and tries to answer the following questions: - What were the structural factors effecting the occurrence of the revolution in Iran? - How eac More

This paper studies the structural factors or, in other words, the long term causes that brought about the revolution in Iran; and tries to answer the following questions: - What were the structural factors effecting the occurrence of the revolution in Iran? - How each of these factors affected the occurrence of the revolution? In order to answer these questions, the structural evolutions in political, economic, social and cultural spheres of contemporary Iran have been studied and the consequences of such evolutions in bringing about imbalance, and at last, revolution, have been analyzed in a descriptive-analytical manner. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

2 - Shanghai Organization and the Security of Central Asia
الهه كولايي

Iran became an observer member of the Shanghai Organization on 2005. Considering the reasons behind the formation of this organization and the transformation process it went through, this event has led to serious debates on how Iran can cooperate with this Organization. More

Iran became an observer member of the Shanghai Organization on 2005. Considering the reasons behind the formation of this organization and the transformation process it went through, this event has led to serious debates on how Iran can cooperate with this Organization. "Shanghai Five" group was first established to resolve security and border related problems between China, Russia and CIS countries (except Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). Later, when Uzbekistan joined Shanghai Five, the group was promoted to organization level. Although many changes have taken place during the transformation process of this regional security cooperation and some economic problems have also been taken into consideration, but basically this Organization has paid more attention to security and military problems in general. The main question brought forth in this article is: "What is Shanghai Organization's role in providing the secrutiy of Central Asia?" The article studies the transformation process taken place in this Organization , so that its role as the provider of secrutiy in Central Asia is illustrated. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

3 - ‘Greed’ and ‘Justice’: Political Pathology of Monarchy in Firdausi’s Shahnameh
تقي رستموندي

Firdausi’s attempt in Shahnameh to explore the causes of the rise and fall of powers in political history of Iran is based on a pathological explanation in the form of poetry. In the same way, he offers a criterion for maintenance and stability of political systems. Rel More

Firdausi’s attempt in Shahnameh to explore the causes of the rise and fall of powers in political history of Iran is based on a pathological explanation in the form of poetry. In the same way, he offers a criterion for maintenance and stability of political systems. Relying on ‘practical logic’ on the understanding of political thought. The present article reviews Firdausi’s political thought. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

4 - Ērānšahr in Greek works: * With Focus on Plato-Xenophon's Philosophical and Political Works (I)
حاتم قادری

Iranians and the Greek came to have contacts with each other very soon in line with expanding their territories. In spite of the dominance of politico-military aspects, the political and philosophical-religious mutual effects should not be neglected. As far as their ear More

Iranians and the Greek came to have contacts with each other very soon in line with expanding their territories. In spite of the dominance of politico-military aspects, the political and philosophical-religious mutual effects should not be neglected. As far as their early contact concerns, it should be noticed that it was the Greek who were most influenced by Iranians' teachings, and their political and philosophical-religious manners. In the first part of this article the Greek's main speculations, focusing on Athenians, and Iranians' political and philosophical-religious teachings is analysed. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

5 - Shifting Mechanisms in I.R.Iran and Japan Relations
الهه كولايي ماندانا تيشه‌يار

Essential principle of Japan’s foreign relations with all countries used to be separation of political issues from economic considerations. The shift in the nature and structure of power within international system led this country to revise its outlook and base its ec More

Essential principle of Japan’s foreign relations with all countries used to be separation of political issues from economic considerations. The shift in the nature and structure of power within international system led this country to revise its outlook and base its economic relations on political relations with different countries. To serve their own long-term interests, today Japanese find it an undeniable necessity to accord with the global process of supporting western globalized models and values. Fearing that its strategic relations with the US be disturbed, could be considered one of the factors in changing Japan’s attitude towards Iran. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

6 - Iran and Regionalism in South-Western Asia: Strategies and Solutions in Iran’s Foreign Policy
Reza سيمبر

Presenting a ladder model for the process of regional convergence, and explaining its different phases, the present article studies the major differences between neo-regionalism and classical regionalism. Regarding five positions - regional space, regional assemblage, More

Presenting a ladder model for the process of regional convergence, and explaining its different phases, the present article studies the major differences between neo-regionalism and classical regionalism. Regarding five positions - regional space, regional assemblage, regional society, regional community, and regional institutionalized political assemblage - and considering the present situation, south-western Asia stands in the second phase, i.e. regional assemblage,; and to provide it with negative peace rather than positive one is of priority. This is the main idea of the present article which surveys the main strategies of Iran’s foreign policy in this regard in order to find suitable solutions. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

7 - Globalization and Iranian Ethnic Identity with a Focus on Language and Customs

It is believed that as a result of increasing globalization, identities of ethnic minorities will inevitably dissolve into one global culture. Others believe that globalization not only will not dismiss ethnicities but also, providing them with appropriate requisites, More

It is believed that as a result of increasing globalization, identities of ethnic minorities will inevitably dissolve into one global culture. Others believe that globalization not only will not dismiss ethnicities but also, providing them with appropriate requisites, will help to increase their ethnic consciousness and thereby strengthening ethnic movements. So, to study consequences of globalization, features of ethnic identity have to be taken into consideration. The present article studies cultures of ethnic identities, and proposes the hypothesis that globalization gives prominence to ethnic identities in short time, and may also lead to ethnic movements, but eventually it will result in assimilation of ethnic minorities with dominant cultures. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

8 - Ērānšahr in Greek works*: With Focus on Plato-Xenophon's Philosophical and Political Works (II)
حاتم قادری

Iranians and the Greek came to have contacts with each other very soon in line with expanding their territories. In spite of the dominance of politico-military aspects, the political and the philosophical-religious mutual effects should not be neglected. As far as their More

Iranians and the Greek came to have contacts with each other very soon in line with expanding their territories. In spite of the dominance of politico-military aspects, the political and the philosophical-religious mutual effects should not be neglected. As far as their early contacts concerns, it was the Greeks who were influenced more by Iranians' teachings, and their political and philosophical-religious manners. In the first part of this article the Greeks' main speculations, focusing on Athenians and Iranians' political and philosophical-religious teachings is analyzed. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

9 - Sohrevardi and Iranshahri’s Political Thought
Ahmad bostani

According to Iranshahri’s political thought, king is the shadow of God on Earth (a symbolic concept) and existence of a just and charismatic king on top of government system guarantees prosperity of the country and the people’s felicity and welfare. Firdausi in his Shah More

According to Iranshahri’s political thought, king is the shadow of God on Earth (a symbolic concept) and existence of a just and charismatic king on top of government system guarantees prosperity of the country and the people’s felicity and welfare. Firdausi in his Shah-Nama (Epic of Kings) tried to reconstruct the doctrine of Ideal King and give an epic tone to it based on the demands of his time. Yet, Sohrevardi in the 6th century offered a reading of the same thought system which is referred here as “Gnostic-Illuminationist” reading of Iranshahri’s political thought. In this system “the world of imagination”, introduced by Sohrevardi, is a core concept; mythical aspect of the ideal kings in ancient narratives, such as Fereydun and Kay Khusraw, finds mystical reading, and terms like, Simorq (phoenix), Jam-e-Jahan-Bin (world-displaying cup), Mount Qaf, and so on get new interpretations. The present articles deals with Sohrevardi’s innovations in the area of Iranshahri’s political thought. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

10 - Globalization, Social movements, and Democracy in Iran

During the recent decades, the world has experienced extensive cultural, social, economical, and political changes. Many scholars believe that in accordance with the changes in different areas of human life, taking a vast perspective to study culture and politics has be More

During the recent decades, the world has experienced extensive cultural, social, economical, and political changes. Many scholars believe that in accordance with the changes in different areas of human life, taking a vast perspective to study culture and politics has become of necessity. Hence, in modern sociology of politics, globalization has turned to one of key concepts and variables in explaining political and social changes. On the other hand, social movements are among the phenomena of great development in the modern time, so that today the social movements throughout the world, including Iran, have been developing along with the growth in the various aspects of globalization. The findings of this research show that globalization has affected social movements in Iran. One major effect has been establishing strong link between these movements. The present article tries to answer this question, “What is common ground of the social movements in Iran together?” Our study shows that the democracy has been the common demand of all social movements in Iran and their linking point. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

11 - “Islamic Parliament” and Policy Making In Iran (1980- 2008)
Vhid sinaee سمیه زمانی

Law-making assemblies are one of the institutions involved in the process of policy making. The range of their intervention is from real determination to formal influence. This fluctuation is affected by two categories of structural factors and agents. The structures in More

Law-making assemblies are one of the institutions involved in the process of policy making. The range of their intervention is from real determination to formal influence. This fluctuation is affected by two categories of structural factors and agents. The structures include the jurisdiction of Parliament, internal organizations of parliament, the power distribution in political systems and external structures which have impact on Parliament. The agents include executive head of parliament, chief executive, representatives and influential groups. Three types of parliament are detectable from relationship of these structures and agents that are determinative parliament, effective, low- of -effect and neutral in the process of policy making. This study is going to investigate the role of Islamic assembly in the process of policy makings in Iran based on the theoretical framework. The results of this study show that assembly had causative, and not determinative, role in regard to structural factors and agents in the process of policy makings. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

12 - Globalization and Penetration Crisis in Islamic Republic of Iran
hassan abniki

The crisis is the one of crucial concepts in political and social science and all of the states confront with it somehow. The states should test different strategies for solving the crisis. Because, unfamiliarity with the crisis can confront the state with different ins More

The crisis is the one of crucial concepts in political and social science and all of the states confront with it somehow. The states should test different strategies for solving the crisis. Because, unfamiliarity with the crisis can confront the state with different institutional and non-institutional problems and make their legitimacy and efficiency unstable. Islamic Republic of Iran is one of these states and we want to survey globalization’s critical effect on its efficiency with reference to penetration’s crisis in this research. In fact, we tend to explain how globalization can produce penetration’s crisis in Islamic Republic of Iran. The used method is descriptive-analytical and used for the clarification of the problem from institutionalism view point. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

13 - Conceptual Evolution of “Law” in the constitution process of Islamic Republic of Iran
Mohammad kamalizade

The constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran as an influential concept and phenomenon, needs to be investigated historically to make clear the formation process of its constituent concepts and elements. The concepts and elements have been formed before revolution and as More

The constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran as an influential concept and phenomenon, needs to be investigated historically to make clear the formation process of its constituent concepts and elements. The concepts and elements have been formed before revolution and as a result of revolution on one hand, and the intellectual attempts of compilers regarding conventionalizing issue. The great characters of revolution not only did not have any perception and special thought of law in their minds, but also they did not think well about the process of law formulation. So while formulating the constitution, they are faced with various difficulties for formulating the key clauses such as sovereignty problems and peolple’s rights and principal freedoms. So for understanding the philosophy and the process of constitution phenomenon in Islamic Republic of Iran, the historical concepts and its formation process and also conventionalizing process of laws should be considered. This goal is achieved considering the mentalities and intentions of formulators of Islamic Republic of Iran’s law while responding the era’s problems. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

14 - The Avoidance of Thinking in A Religious Culture: A Review and Critique of Aramesh Doostdar’s Points of View
Seyed Mohammad Ali Taghavi Fatemeh Baee

Aramesh Doostdar considers “lack of question” as the main difficulty of Iranian society, which has been dominated by a religious culture since the ancient time. In this paper, his views are assessed on the basis of postmodern observations. Richard Rorty speaks of two ac More

Aramesh Doostdar considers “lack of question” as the main difficulty of Iranian society, which has been dominated by a religious culture since the ancient time. In this paper, his views are assessed on the basis of postmodern observations. Richard Rorty speaks of two accounts of rationality: a broad account which he favours and a narrow one which he crticises and attributes to modern thinkers. The main question in this paper is that in which category Doostdar’s views can be classified? It seems that he advocates the narrow modernist account of rationality that considers whatever does not comply with it as outside reason. Doostdar’s metanarrative on Iranian culture is based on unjustified extrapolations that ignore the complexity of the culture. Since he believes that Islamic and Iranian culture lacks fundamental philosophical questions, he disregards all other types of questions raised in that culture. In politics, Doostdar argues that the relationship between religion and the state in Iran, since the Achaemenid Empire, constituted the religious culture in the society in such a way that any escape from it and transition towards a developed society would be impossible. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

15 - The Examination of Political Participation among Iranian Society’ Middle Class
hassan abniki

Studies show that there is a significant relationship between political participation of individuals and their social class. In other words, a similar behavior pattern can be seen regarding political participation among individuals belonging to a special social class th More

Studies show that there is a significant relationship between political participation of individuals and their social class. In other words, a similar behavior pattern can be seen regarding political participation among individuals belonging to a special social class that can be extended to all of this class. Here in urban middle class, knowing political behavior and the kind of its political participation based on this class’ significance in urban democratic class is very important, because of the importance of this class in modern democratic systems. Iranian urban middle class has played an important role in important historical intervals and in political and social events especially after constitution revolution. In this essay, it is cleared through the political participation of middle class that high political consciousness among the middle class along with high education and their high job position has been led to reducing political participation and shaping political discontent among the members of the middle class. The findings of this research show that the main problem of middle class is the political problem. In fact, Iranian new middle class feels the most inability and incapacity in the politics due to its fairly appropriate economic status. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

16 - Ideological religion and the disenchantment of politics
Mahereh Kuohnavard Ahmad bostani

20.1001.1.20085796.1400.16.30.5.6

The Islamic Revolution of Iran was a movement based on religious ideology, and one of its most important goals was to confront the process of secularization in society and establish a religious government. However, after the revolution, the process of disenchantment int More

The Islamic Revolution of Iran was a movement based on religious ideology, and one of its most important goals was to confront the process of secularization in society and establish a religious government. However, after the revolution, the process of disenchantment intensified both in the theoretical dimension and in the practical aspects of society and politics. Although the term disenchantment is used in Max Weber's works to describe the modernization and rationalization of Western societies, in this article, we will show that in post-revolutionary Iran, this process has not necessarily always been associated with more rational and scientific processes. Therefore, the present article aims to discuss the process through which the political and social application of religion would lead to the disenchantment of politics and society. To explain this process, we will emphasize that the Ideologization of religion requires the transformation of Sharia and religious teachings into a secular structure and adherence to the logic of temporal relations. Therefore, in certain circumstances, the ideological conception of religion can accelerate the process of disenchantment. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

17 - Factors and Obstacles Affecting the Role of Civic Institutions in the "Reform Period" in Iran: The Internal Dynamics of a Hybrid Political System
Alireza Khoshbakht Majid tavasoli Mohammadmahdi mojahedi

20.1001.1.20085796.1400.13.29.3.3

The purpose of this article is to discuss the political ups and downs of the “Reform era” in Iran (1997-2005). To analyze the “Islamic Republic of Iran” as a political regime and its dynamics, “Hybrid Regimes” theories have been used in current work. Such theories rejec More

The purpose of this article is to discuss the political ups and downs of the “Reform era” in Iran (1997-2005). To analyze the “Islamic Republic of Iran” as a political regime and its dynamics, “Hybrid Regimes” theories have been used in current work. Such theories reject the duality of Democracy-Authoritarianism and try to provide essential concepts for analyzing the regimes which are in the middle of the spectrum. Those regimes have unique features in comparison to Democratic or Authoritarian regimes. To analyze the Islamic Republic of Iran as a political regime and to explain the ups and downs of the “Reform era” in Iran, the studies of four researchers on “hybrid Regimes” have been used here. Some of the keynotes which have been applied to the current study to discuss the political ups and downs of that specific period are as follows: the importance of political competition, social and political backgrounds of creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a hybrid regime, and finally, the relation between such a regime and rentier economy in Iran. Finally, the article has concluded that the reformist’s earlier progress and their later withdraw and defeat could be considered as “inner dynamics of a hybrid regime” instead of the “the defeated transition to democracy”. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

18 - Political Economy of State Developmentalism in Iran: A Study of Douglas North's Theory of Open and Restricted Access in the Islamic Republic
Ali Ranjbarki

20.1001.1.20085796.1400.16.30.7.8

This article explains the developmentalist status of political rule in the period of the Islamic Republic of Iran using the institutional theory of open and limited access "Douglas North". According to North, the elites and political rulers (ruling coalition) in a socie More

This article explains the developmentalist status of political rule in the period of the Islamic Republic of Iran using the institutional theory of open and limited access "Douglas North". According to North, the elites and political rulers (ruling coalition) in a society have two ways of forming social order and controlling violence. On the one hand, the open access system, which has impersonal rules and regulations, the rule of law and productive rent-seeking, which guarantees public access to society's resources and assets. And, on the other hand, the limited access system, which seeks to establish personal and private relationships and rules, sheikh and disciple (Murid &Morad) networks, unproductive rent-seeking and restricting the access of others to the resources and assets of society. Empirical evidence shows that open access systems guarantee and accelerate the achievement of economic development. Restricted access systems are not inherently developmental because economic development conflicts with the personal and group interests of the ruling coalition. Hence, political rule does not make a serious effort to address the problems and shortcomings in the path of economic development. In Iran, with the formation of the Islamic Revolution, the ground was opened for further opening of the social access system. But over time, with the occurrence of various internal and external events, political rule tended to limit the country's social system. This led to a special group of Islamists (traditional and fundamentalist right) becoming the dominant coalition of the country and using various strategies and policies to try to gain access to the sources of power and assets of the country in a centralized and exclusive way. Under these institutional conditions, the behavior of the country's political rulers is shaped in such a way that their main goal is to maintain the current political system in order to guarantee monopoly and centralized power and maximum access to the country's resources and assets. Therefore, increasing and allocating unproductive rents from oil revenues and government monopolies to groups affiliated with the ruling coalition, establishing personal and private relations and organizations, and restricting the participation and access of other groups to the economic and political resources of the country are the dominant coalition strategies. These strategies hinder the continuation and acceleration of economic development in the country. Thus, the behavior and plans of political rulers are not developmental. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

19 - Evaluation of representative institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran: analysis of the formation and expansion of the franchise in Iran in the 20th century
Reza Zamani

20.1001.1.20085796.1401.17.31.4.4

This paper has two major purposes: analyzing the franchise formation in Iran (1906-1911) and its expansionin the 20th century. All theories of the franchise are categorized into six groups (enlightenment, party competition, the middle class will, redistribution, social More

This paper has two major purposes: analyzing the franchise formation in Iran (1906-1911) and its expansionin the 20th century. All theories of the franchise are categorized into six groups (enlightenment, party competition, the middle class will, redistribution, social order, and political economy). Based on these theories, it has been shown that in the early period of the formation of elections in Iran, the trade union elections (1285) had a redistributive function and in contrast to the one-degree elections of 1290, had an enlightening function.With attention to mentioned theories, we found that the franchise adjustment in Iran in the 20th century does not have a fixed and linear trend and this level of access has varied over time. Moreover, it has been shown that both after and before the Islamic revolution, franchise expansion in Iran is compatible with both social order and redistribution theories. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

20 - Critique of Homayoun Katozian's view of "Iranian tyranny"
Abdolrahman Hassanifar

20.1001.1.20085796.1400.13.29.9.9

One of the common theories focused on politics, society, and state in Iran is the "theory of despotism". Many Iranian and non-Iranian thinkers have commented and even theorized about why and how the emergence, formation, and continuation of "despotism" in Iran. Mohammad More

One of the common theories focused on politics, society, and state in Iran is the "theory of despotism". Many Iranian and non-Iranian thinkers have commented and even theorized about why and how the emergence, formation, and continuation of "despotism" in Iran. Mohammad Ali (Homayoun) Katozian is one of the Iranian scholars who have proposed the view of "despotism" on the history of Iran. In Katouzian's view, Iranian society and state have historically been in a cycle of "despotism, chaos, chaos, and despotism". In this view, Iranian society has always been either plagued by despotism or by chaos, conflict, and strife. Katozian's view emphasizes the comprehensive impact of authoritarian political power on other dimensions of society. The question is whether Katozian's view of Iranian despotism is a result of the whole of Iranian history? The findings indicate that Katozian's view is not relevant to the entire history of Iran and this article examines this discrepancy. The method of the article is descriptive-analytical. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

21 - The Components of Political Thought of The Herat School in The Thought System of Maulana Abdul Rahman Jami
Mohammad dawood Erfan Seyed Hossein Athari Ruhollah Islami Mahdi Najafzade

20.1001.1.20085796.1401.17.32.10.2

Mehdi Najafzadeh**** Herat was formerly one of the important centers of Islamic thought and power withinthe Khorasan school. This city has been the place of emergence of great scientists and thinkers throughout the history. During the period of Timurids (14th century C More

Mehdi Najafzadeh**** Herat was formerly one of the important centers of Islamic thought and power withinthe Khorasan school. This city has been the place of emergence of great scientists and thinkers throughout the history. During the period of Timurids (14th century C.E.), connection of thought and power eventually led to the emergence of the political school of Herat. Abdur Rahman Jami, as the leader of this school, played an undeniable role in the growth and excellence of Herat's political school. Jami was an intellectual mentor who made the interaction of mysticism and politics possible for the first time in the history of Islam. The Timurid power system and court was soon influenced by Jami's thought and crystallized in the behavior and actions of political agents in the context of the society .This article seeks to answer the question of what constituted Jami's political thought that helped shape the political school of Herat? This article, with the goal-legitimacy framework of "John Murrow" and Quentin Skinner's interpretive hermeneutic method, aims to examine the most important concepts produced by Jami's thought thatentered into the political system of his era by him and his students. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

22 - Transition from Monarchical Rule to Innovative Governance Based on the Techniques of Transparency and Control (From Abbas Mirza to Amir Kabir)
hadi keshavarz

This study aims to analyze the governance patterns in Iran before and after the Iran-Russia wars, and their relationship with the environment. Two major governance patterns and two different rationalities in the exercise of power, in terms of method, scope, and perspect More

This study aims to analyze the governance patterns in Iran before and after the Iran-Russia wars, and their relationship with the environment. Two major governance patterns and two different rationalities in the exercise of power, in terms of method, scope, and perspective, are discussed. Using a descriptive-analytical approach and documents, the governance process is examined from the perspective of Michel Foucault's governmentality framework, and the relationship between the environment, politics, and the formation of a new rationality in governance in Iran is explored. The research question is: "How did the formation and establishment of new governance mechanisms and techniques in Iran after the Iran-Russia wars take place, and what impact did it have on the relationship between the environment, politics, and the formation of new governance innovations in Iran? " The study argues that "with an awareness of the failure of governance based on the monarchy system, reformists gradually exposed society to the power of control and guidance of the population by creating new techniques and institutions, and established new governance innovations. " In general, two strategies can be identified in the administration of the territory after the Iran-Russia wars: the traditional strategy of the monarchy based on divine-political obligation and the strategy of new governance innovations based on new techniques, each leaving a different form of the relationship between the environment and politics in terms of the mode of exercising power, the scope of power, and the control perspective. Manuscript profile

Current Issue

Published Issues

Menu

Browse

List of Articles Iran