Sarah Lee Iran Section 4 Notes Representation and Participation - General electorate chooses the president as well as the

Assembly of Religious Experts who choose the leader. - Majles, the elected legislature, exercises considerable power. o centerpiece of the Islamic Constitution Republics founding father - Khomeini declared: this constitution, which the people will ratify, in no way contradicts democracy. Since people love the clergy it is only right that supreme religious authority oversee the work of the [government] ministers to ensure that they dont make mistake or go against the Quran. The Legislature - Majles: represents the nation according the Constitution. o Enact or change laws (with approval of the GC) o Investigate and supervise all affairs of state o Approve or oust the cabinet ministers (except the president) through vote of no confidence. o Investigate cabinet members, affairs of state, public complaints against the executive and judiciary. o Withhold approval for government budgets, foreign loans, international treaties, and cabinet appointments. o Hold closed debates o Provide members with immunity from arrest o Regulate its own internal workings, especially the committee system. - Constitution uses qanun (statutes) instead of sharia (divine law) o Accepts the rationale that God formulates the divine law but elected representatives can draw up statutes. o Qanun can be passed as long as the GC believes it is compatible with sharia and the constitution. - Majles has 290 members and is elected by citizens of both gender >18 years old. - It can choose, six of the 12 man GC from a list made by the chief judge. Political Parties and the Party System - Law passed in 1980 permits Interior Ministry to issue licenses to political parties, but were not encouraged until Khatami (1997 administration) o Three important parties emerged Islamic Iran Participation Front (Khatamis supporters) Servants of Reconstruction (Honjas al-Islam Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president and now chairman of Expediency Council) Osulgarayan (Principalists) by Ahmadinejad o Two main clerical clusters Conservative Association of Militant Clergy Liberal Society of Militant Clergy

700 organizations have received license to function but are nonpolitical profession associations.

Elections - 30 years after the revolution: 9 presidential elections, 2 local council elections, 8 separate parliamentary elections. - Electoral freedom is restricted less heavy-handedly by the government-controlled radiotelevision network, the main source of information for vast majority of the citizens. o The Interior Ministry can ban organizations and their newspapers if they dont fully subscribe to the concept of velayat-efaqeh th - 7 Majles (2004) o GC excluded 3,500 candidates (nearly 1/2, many reformers) from running. This purge was facilitated by Bushs labeling of Iran as an Axis of Evil o Conservatives won a hollow victory Voters turnout was less than 51% Tehran: 28% o Worst showing since 1970. - 8th Majles (2008) o GC, helped by the Interior Ministry, removed 3,000 potential candidates (leading reformers, sat in 7th Majles) o 40 reformers managed to get elected, supported by Khatamis Islamic Iran Participation Front and Rafsanjanis Servants of Reconstruction. o Conservatives, led b Ahmadinejads Principalists took 190 seats, but openly critical of the presidents highly populist rhetoric. o Other 60 seats went to the independents. - 6th Majles o 100 reforms bills passed but vetoed by the GC. Some contradicted sharia Eliminated legal distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims, between men and women Raised the marriage age for girls Granted women scholarships to study aboard Stipulated divorce courts could divide property equally Colorful clothing Ratified UN Convention on the Eliminate of Discrimination against Women. Even tried passed a bill stripping the GC of the authority to vet parliamentary and presidential candidates. Almost all bills were overruled by the GC, the reform movement hopes that some time in the future a more flexible leader or GC will accept them. Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity - Shiism is the religion of both the state and vast majority of the population o Can also be described as the central component of Iranians popular culture. - Constitution extends additional rights to recognized religious minorities o Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians form just 1% but allocated 5 Majles seats.

83% of the population understands Persian 50% continue to speak non-Persian languages at home. These generous promises are more in theory than in reality. Bahais and Sunni population have gone through religious persecution. o 1/3 of Bahais have left Iran o Sunni forms 9%, no Sunni mosques in Tehran. Regimes base among the Azeris is Shii but do not speak Persian. o Forms 24% of population and not a big problem in Iran o Khamenei is an Azeris.

Interests, Social Movements, and Protests - The first two decades after its founding, the government of the Islamic Republic was extremely repressive. o Closed down newspapers, profession associations, labor unions, and political parties o Banned demonstrations and public meetings o Incarcerated tens and thousands without due process/tortured prisoners/executed 25,00 political prisoners. - Arouse special resentment among three social groups o Modern middle was secular and anticlerical ever since 1905 revolution. Vast majority of those executed in the 1980s were intellectuals. 1999: 18 different campuses erupted into demonstrations against chief judge who closed down reformist newspapers. 2002: thousands of student protested death sentences 2004: GC barred thousands of reformists from the elections but campus remained quiet. o Educated women harbor numerous grievances against the conservative clerics in the regime. Form 54% of college students, 45% doctors, 25% government employees, 13% general labor force. Job security, pay scales, promotions, maternity leave, access to prestigious jobs. 1979: Workers house 1999: Islamic Labor Party 1999: May Day rally o Factory workers concerns deal with high unemployment, low wages, declining incomes, lack of decent housing, and an unsatisfactory labor law. - President Khatamis reform movement drew much of its core support from these three social groups.