Under Construction Documents in this collectionFree and Fair election, Handbook For Domestic Election Observers (Farsi)
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights/The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe January 1, 2003 Booklet In the Islamic Republic of Iran, sovereignty is the exclusive prerogative of God, who delegates it to an Islamic Jurisprudent, the Supreme Leader. This is clearly spelled out in the Iranian Constitution:
The Islamic Republic is a system based on belief in: 1. The One God . . . His exclusive sovereignty and right to legislate, and the necessity of submission to His commands; 2. Divine revelation and its fundamental role in setting forth the laws; 3. The return to God in the Hereafter, and the constructive role of this belief in the course of man's ascent toward God; 4. The justice of God in creation and legislation; 5. Continuous leadership (imamat) and perpetual guidance, and its fundamental role in ensuring the uninterrupted process of the revolution of Islam (Article 2).
[T]he wilayah [guardianship] and leadership of the Ummah [community of the faithful] devolve upon the 'adil muttaqi faqih [the just and pious Islamic Jurisprudent], who is fully aware of the circumstances of his age; courageous, resourceful, and possessed of administrative ability, [he] will assume the responsibilities of this office in accordance with Article 107 (Article 5).
The powers of government in the Islamic Republic are vested in the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive powers, functioning under the supervision of the absolute wilayat al-'amr [guardianship] and the leadership of the Ummah (Article 57).
The theocratic nature of the regime requires that all laws and political decisions be in conformity with Islamic precepts and canon law. For that purpose, two constitutional levers are provided: the absolute power of the Supreme Leader and the oversight of the Council of Guardians. The Supreme Leader, through his absolute power and guardianship of the rights of God in the body politic, is above the constitution. He is appointed by the Assembly of Experts, an elective assembly composed of theologians. The Council of Guardians is composed of six theologians designated by the Supreme Leader and six jurists elected by the parliament from a list presented by the head of the judiciary. The latter is also designated by the Supreme Leader.
The Council of Guardians enjoys veto power over all laws and an approbatory and supervisory function with regard to elections to the presidency, the parliament, and the Assembly of Experts. All candidates seeking elective office must first be approved by the Council of Guardians, which must then validate the results of completed elections. Thus the country's elected officials must, in effect, submit to two elections, first that of the Council of Guardians, and second, that of universal suffrage.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a system that has been operated through cooptation from the outset. The founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, never submitted his mandate to the people's vote. He was carried to power by popular fervor and by mass demonstrations, but he exercised his trusteeship prior to and irrespective of any popular vote. Before his death, Khomeini himself designated his successor, Ayatollah Khamenei, whose nomination was subsequently approved by the Assembly of Experts. Yet the system also incorporates an elective mechanism. It is the interaction between cooptation and elections that makes the Iranian regime unique.
In contrast with modern representative democracies, where elections form the basis of legitimacy and political sovereignty, the Iranian constitution reduces elections to the mere manifestation of public opinion: "In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the affairs of the country must be administered with the support of public opinion expressed by means of elections. . ." (Article 6). The Islamic Republic thus distinguishes itself from totalitarian states, where ideology subsumes public opinion and elections are a political ritual automatically consecrating the only party candidate. The constitutional function of public opinion is a specific feature of the Iranian theocracy.
On the eve of Iran’s 2009 presidential elections, ABF has translated into Persian the Handbook for Domestic Election Observers (published by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights/The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) to provide the Iranian citizens and civil rights advocates with a valuable comparative tool to better understand the function of elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran and its contradistinction with the role of elections within democratic representative regimes.
Public Liberties (Farsi)
Jean Rivero/Hugues Moutouh July 1, 2003 Book chapter
The Story of Human Rights
G. Robertson 1999 Book chapter
Leviathan: Of Common-Wealth (Farsi)
Thomas Hobbes 1959 Book chapter
On Liberty (Farsi)
John Stuart Mill 1859 Book chapter
Excerpts fro, the Second Treatise of Government (Farsi)
John Locke 1690 Book chapter
DEMOCRACY
Sidney Hook*, revised by Jean Bethke Elshtain Web article
ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM AND PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY (Farsi)
Fereidun (Fereidoun) Adamiat October 1, 1961 Book chapter
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