Is Iran an Islamic republic, a theocracy, or something else?
POST ONE
According to Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph, “Iran is a mixture of theocracy and democracy”. (Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph, 2013) My understanding after the assigned reading is that Iran is technically more a theocracy then a democracy and the alleged democracy in place is not a democracy at all. The only democratic-like thing is the election of the president and clerics but they may also be skewed due to the control over the media. The president is elected by the people but the high religious figures are the ones with the real power. They control the functions of the government most of the time.
Another factor that comes into play when trying to understand the political system of Iran is the type of “democracy” that it uses. In a true democracy all citizens have equal rights. But, in Iran where it is ruled and inhabited by a certain sect of the Islam religion, Shi’ism, only the Shia are looked at as equals. Christians, Jews (the very small percentages) and even Sunni Muslims are looked at differently. According to Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph, the amount of Muslims in Iran that are Shia account for roughly 90% of the population. The remaining 10% probably have no voice at all. (Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph, 2013)
Because the Islamic Republic of Iran is a just that, an Islamic Republic, I am not sure that it is capable of true democracy. Two things in the Kesselman text stood out to me. First, when the fact that Khomeini said that Islam and democracy are compatible. I will argue that they are not since women and people of different religions are not viewed as equal. Another thing that surprised me at first but does not at all now is how Khomeini allegedly sent funds to fundamentalist groups around the world. What is more interesting is that Iran was initially helping with the Global War on Terrorism until Iraq came into the picture. (Kesselman, Krieger and Joseph, 2013)
The legal system also is that of a non-democratic country. Sharia law is in effect and this can cause or lead to oppression for the minorities. This article talks about the oppression that exists in the country – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/11774302/Irans-reformists-hope-regime-will-temper-its-harshness.html. The people who came out and contest elections or speak poorly about leadership are jailed.
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