The State and Institutionalization of Democracy in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.d in Political Sciences from Allameh Tabataba'i University

2 Professor of Political Sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University

Abstract

In Iranian society, it has often been thought that the institution of state, as an actor, has always been opposed to democracy and has hindered its institutionalization. Despite Comments for and against this relatively pervasive notion, it seems that after the Islamic Revolution, the institution of state has been in a status of fluctuation between agreeing and denying the institutionalization of democracy. The present research question is: what has been the role of the state in the institutionalization of democracy through its impact on social classes and class structure? After the revolution, the state, as a powerful institution, opposed or supported institutionalization through its policies. Process tracking technique has been used to conduct this research. According to the findings the state in Iran as a powerful institution has played a dual role in the institutionalization of democracy through its policies. The state, through its system of planning and economic policies, has led to the unbalanced expansion of classes, and at the same time, the class divide in society has intensified. In other words, despite the fact that class coalition and compromise have been prevented, but with the support and expansion of the middle class, and especially its new section, it has supported the single-class institutional model.

Keywords

Political Sociology of Iran
Volume 5, Issue 6
August 2022
Pages 1937-1966

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