Political+Institutions

Dolly Prabhu

__ Levels of Government __
 * Iran is highly centralized, unitary state, but it is divided into provinces, districts, sub-districts, and local areas
 * According to the Constitution, there must be elected councils on each administrative level, and all appointed officials must consult local councils
 * However, it wasn’t until 1999 (under Khatami) that nationwide local elections took place
 * Local governments are a mix of elected officials (ex: city mayor) and government appointed officials (ex: governor)

__ Executives __ Executive power shared between the President, who is the head of government, and the Supreme Leader, who is the head of state


 * **President**
 * Currently **Mahmoud Ahmadinejad**
 * Four year term, 8 year limit
 * All but one of the presidents were clerics
 * Major powers:
 * Chooses cabinet members and vice president
 * Appoints ambassadors, provincial governors, and town mayors,
 * Presents legislation to Majles (parliament)
 * Coordinates government decisions
 * Devises budget and supervises economic matters
 * Heads bureaucracy
 * **Supreme Leader**
 * Currently **Ayatollah Ali Khamenei**
 * Most powerful political figure in Iran
 * Supervises politics & ensures that laws conform to Islam
 * Interprets religious documents and sharia law
 * Major powers
 * Can overrule/dismiss president
 * Can eliminate presidential candidates
 * Commands armed forces
 * Declares war and peace
 * Appoints head of the judiciary
 * Appoints half of the members of the Guardian Council
 * Appoints military commanders
 * Chosen by Assembly of Religious Experts
 * Only qualification = must be an established member of the clergy

__ Legislatures __
 * **Majles** **(Parliament)**
 * Unicameral
 * AKA Islamic Consultative Assembly
 * 290 seats
 * Constant factional fighting between conservatives and reformists
 * Fewer and fewer clerics being elected
 * Powers:
 * Can enact/change laws, but only with the approval of the Guardian Council
 * Interprets legislation, but they cannot contradict the judicial authority
 * Investigates cabinet members and any public complaints against the judiciary or executive
 * Appoints half of the members of the Guardian Council, but must choose from a list that the chief judge creates
 * Approves budget, cabinet appointments, loans, and treaties
 * **Council of Guardians**
 * The Council of Guardians consists of 12 members. Six of these members are clerics appointed by the Supreme Leader, and the other six are lawyers recommended by the head of the judiciary and confirmed by the Majles. (The head of the judiciary is also appointed by the Supreme Leader.) The lawyers consider the constitutionality of legislation, while the clerics evaluate the conformity of legislation to Islam. The Council of Guardians also has joint power with the Supreme Leader to veto any legislation that contradicts Islam. The Council of Guardians also determines who is allowed to run in local, parliamentary, presidential, and Assembly of Religious Experts elections.
 * **Expediency Council**
 * Created in 1988 to resolve policy disputes between the Guardian Council & Majles
 * Consists of about 24 members, who are all appointed by the Supreme Leader
 * Can originate its own legislation
 * 3 year terms
 * Also advise national leaders



__ Elections __
 * Minimum voting age = 18
 * May vote for president, members of the Assembly of Religious Experts, and Majles representatives
 * Majles elections are held every 4 years
 * Elections for city and village councils are every held throughout Iran every 4 years
 * Assembly of Religious Experts elections are held every 6 years
 * //The Guardian Council must confirm all candidates before they are allowed to run for any national office***//

CONTROVERSY OVER 2009 ELECTIONS IN IRAN: media type="custom" key="12719994"

__ Electoral Systems __
 * The presidential election uses a winner-take-all system, but there are two rounds of elections. The final round consists of the remaining two contenders, and so the winner will invariably receive a majority in the second round.
 * For Majles seats:
 * Districts can have anywhere from 1-6 representatives, and 5 seats are reserved for religious minorities. Voters can cast as many votes as there are seats to fill for each respective constituency. The victory threshold is 25%. If no candidate reaches this threshold of votes in the first round, a second-round election is held.
 * Assembly of Religious Experts members are popularly elected, but they must pass a religious knowledge test, and so most are clerics

__ Political Parties __
 * Constitution allows parties, but the government didn't until 1997 (election of Khatami)
 * Parties thus still quite ill-defined in Iran
 * Organized around personalities, not issues
 * Used to be two main factions: conservatives and reformists
 * Reformists parties have all been banned in the past few years
 * Current major parties
 * Authorized:
 * Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (conservative) - leader: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, current president
 * Islamic Coalition Party (conservative) - leader: Habibollah Asgaroladi
 * Islamic Society of Engineers - leader: Mohammad Reza Bahonar
 * Executives of Construction Party (centrist-reformist) - leader: Gholamhossein Karbaschi

__ Interest Groups __
 * Because political parties are so loosely defined in Iran, it’s difficult to tell the difference between interest groups and political parties
 * Not many interest groups for business because the government owns 65-80% of the economy
 * Example:
 * Worker’s House
 * For factory workers
 * Operates with the help of an affiliated newspaper
 * Their political party = Islamic Labor Party

__ Bureaucracy __
 * Headed by president
 * Dominated by clerics, who head all major ministries
 * Has doubled in size since 1979
 * Ministries include…
 * Culture and Islamic Guidance - censures media
 * Intelligence - main security organization
 * Heavy Industry - manages nationalized factories
 * Reconstruction - expands social services and makes sure that Islam extends to the countryside
 * Justice

__ Military __
 * The military is made up of the regular military (consisting of an army, navy, air forces, etc.) and the **Revolutionary Guard**, an elite military force that was established immediately after the 1979 Revolution by Ayatollah Khomeini
 * Under the Shah, there was already a regular military, and so the Revolutionary Guard was formed as a parallel force with separate weapons, budgets, uniform, etc.
 * The regular army guards the borders and the Revolutionary Guard protects the public, according to the Constitution
 * Supreme Leader appoints commanders and functions as the commander-in-chief
 * Iran has the 8th largest military in the world, with about 540,000 active troops
 * The Revolutionary Guard is an important political force
 * Have a lot of say in Iran’s nuclear program
 * Many former Guards sit in the Majles

__ Judiciaries __
 * **Judiciary**
 * Head of judiciary appointed by Supreme Leader (must be a cleric)
 * Composed of conservative clerics who generally oppose legal reform
 * Censorship, neglect to prosecute street criminals, etc.
 * Two types of laws
 * **Sharia law** (aka Islamic law), which is considered sacred
 * **Qanun law**, which encompasses all the others laws made and passed by elected representatives
 * Because qanun law cannot contradict sharia law, the Guardian Council and Supreme Leader must review all legislation to make sure it doesn’t contradict Islam
 * Judicial review exists in that ultimate legal authority resides in sharia law (rather than a constitution)
 * The court structure, hierarchy of state courts, appeals system, and central government’s right to appoint and dismiss judges have all been retained from the Shah’s government
 * Types of courts
 * Public courts - deal with civil and criminal cases
 * Revolutionary courts - deal with particular types of offenses
 * Decisions here cannot be appealed
 * Special Clerical Court - deals with clerical crimes and is accountable only to the Supreme Leader
 * Decisions cannot be appealed
 * The interpretation of the sharia has gradually become less strict
 * **Assembly of Religious Experts**
 * Chooses the Supreme Leader
 * Supreme Leaders maintain the position for life
 * Directly elected, but can only become candidates after passing a religious test and a series of interviews
 * In charge of evaluating the Supreme Leader
 * Reserve right to dismiss Supreme Leader, although it has never happened
 * 85 members, no females allowed
 * Shares responsibility of interpreting the constitution with Guardian Council and Supreme Leader

__ In a Nutshell: __

__ Analysis: __ Iran's government is extremely theocratic, and so the Supreme Leader's role completely overshadows that of the President, who has little to no impact in most areas of government. The few "checks" on the Supreme Leader's power are usually not checks at all. For example, the Supreme Leader appoints half the members of the Guardian Council, while the Head of the Judiciary appoints the other half. This appears at first to be a balance of powers, but the Head of the Judiciary is //also// appointed by the Supreme Leader. Even the directly held office of the President is under his control, as the Supreme Leader can eliminate any presidential candidates he dislikes and also overrule or dismiss the President at any time. Here is an example of one of the many instances where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei presented the President with an ultimatum: to accept his advice or resign. Although President Ahmadinejad often represents the Iranian government in the public spotlight, he is still subject to every whim of the Supreme Leader, and is thus more of a figurehead than anything else. However, having a directly elected President means that Iran can boast having a (sort of) democratic institution, and that the people can feel that they have //some// influence in government, although the reality may be otherwise.

BATTLE BETWEEN PRESIDENT AND SUPREME LEADER OVER PARLIAMENTARY CONTROL: media type="youtube" key="I6xXtQA79HQ" height="315" width="560"

__ Sources __

Burke, Andrew, and Mark Elliot. //Iran//. Lonely Planet, 2008.

CBS. "Iran Election Results Phony?" Video. //CBSNEWS//. CBS, 13 June 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. .

CIA. //The World Factbook.// Web. 12 Feb. 2012.

Dehghan, Saeed Kamali. "Iran's Supreme Leader Tells Ahmadinejad: Accept Minister or Quit." //The Guardian//. Guardian News and Media, 06 May 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. .

EuroNews. "Iranian Parliamentary Battle Begins." //EuroNews//. EuroNews, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. .

NerdCrunch. "How Iran's Political System Works? [Infographic]." //NerdCrunch//. NerdCrunch, 20 May 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.