Political Thought in Iran was affected by a history and culture that dates back thousands of years. Iran is Located in southwest Asia, this land has housed one of the oldest civilizations in the world and has profoundly influenced world culture, art, literature, science, and philosophy from ancient times to the present. Various factors have always influenced the realm of politics in Iran. Some of these factors are as follows:
Cultural diversity
While Iranian civilization is seen as a cohesive and unified entity, its most important characteristic is its cultural diversity. In the land of Iran, diverse ethnicities are found, each with its language, customs, traditions, and religion. This diversity has been one of the main factors in shaping politics and governance in Iran.
Land of Kings
Iran is the cradle of kingship. Although the limited rule of kings has a history of several thousand years in various regions of the land of Iran, Cyrus the Great was the first king who was able to establish a relatively centralized rule about 2500 years ago while preserving cultural diversity throughout the land. Since that time, other civilizations such as Greece and Rome recognized Iran as the land of kings.
Throughout history, kings in Iran have tried to establish an administrative order over this land through a common religion. Zoroastrian priests in ancient Iran as well as Sunni jurists in the medieval period had some influence in the governance system.
However, during the Safavid period (the period of the beginning of a new era of territorial integrity and centralized rule in Iran), Shiite religious Mullahs gained a very important position in the field of governance. Therefore, governance in Iran can be considered a common affair between the king and the Mullahs starting from the Safavid period.
Political thought in Iran
This country, like all ancient human civilizations, has a set of political thoughts and intellectual endeavors dedicated to politics. Various branches of political thought in Iran include jurisprudence, philosophy, and Siyasatnameh (Book of Politics). Political jurisprudence is the product of religious scholars and jurists who have always tried to align political affairs with the mandates of religious scriptures and the traditions of the Prophet and Imams.
Political philosophy is the product of philosophers who, while influenced by ancient Greek philosophy, have operated clearly within the framework of Islamic theology. The most important branch of political thought specific to this land is Siyasatnameh.
Siyasatnameh is a branch of political thought that is mainly addressed to the kings and the courtiers. Justification and legitimization of the established government, efforts to organize the government’s performance according to specific principles, and various recommendations for enhancing the government’s power are some of the topics seen in Siyasatnamehs.
Two revolutions in the modern era
Iran has experienced two fundamental revolutions in the modern era. The first revolution took place in 1906. The constitutional revolution introduced the concept of law in its modern sense into the realm of governance for the first time and introduced the representatives of the people as one of the pillars of government and divided the realm of governance unevenly among three pillars: the king, the jurist, and the people.
The second revolution dates back to 1979. The Islamic Revolution was a multi-faceted social and political movement. On the one hand, leftist groups sought a socialist revolution, and on the other hand, advocates of tradition in Iran were enraged by the modernization of the Pahlavi government in Iran.
This revolution was a coalition of the people with the clerics against the king, but after the overthrow of the king, the clerics, through unprecedented repression and massacre, also pushed the people out of the realm of governance and established an exclusive religious government in Iran.
