The current Iranian constitution is the product of two irreconcilable and at times contradictory perspectives, i.e., a merger of the traditional guidelines from Shiite Islam (or Sharia law) with some principles similar in spirit to the French constitution. The purpose of this literature review is to objectively examine the contents of the Iranian constitution and elaborate on the similarities and differences compared with the principles enshrined in the French constitution that made France a major cradle of Western democracy. Despite the limited analytical literature available on the subject, the authors selected the relevant articles and books to critically compare and contrast the language and spirit of the Iranian constitution versus its French counterpart. The Iranian constitution is a reflection of the Islamic theocracy and fundamentalism, combined with democratic-appearing but irreconcilable articles to govern the nation’s affairs by three branches of independent yet controlled government. The constitution provides the freedom to obey the absolute and unaccountable Leader, and the 177 articles that are claimed to be sufficient for prosperity in this world and the eternal life after. The outcome of the Iranian constitution, which was never tested in a real society before its ideals were put into practice in Iran, suggest that the Islamic guidelines are not reconcilable for the most part with those of the modern democracies as a method of governance in the 21st century.
| Published in | Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 2, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13 |
| Page(s) | 93-100 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Constitution, Democracy vs Theocracy, Sharia Law, Globalization, Fundamentalism, Separation of Powers
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APA Style
Sara Zalzar, Sadegh Zibakalam. (2019). The Iranian Constitution: A Compilation of Irreconcilable Articles. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 2(4), 93-100. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13
ACS Style
Sara Zalzar; Sadegh Zibakalam. The Iranian Constitution: A Compilation of Irreconcilable Articles. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2019, 2(4), 93-100. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13
AMA Style
Sara Zalzar, Sadegh Zibakalam. The Iranian Constitution: A Compilation of Irreconcilable Articles. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2019;2(4):93-100. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13
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Download@article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13,
author = {Sara Zalzar and Sadegh Zibakalam},
title = {The Iranian Constitution: A Compilation of Irreconcilable Articles},
journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
volume = {2},
number = {4},
pages = {93-100},
doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20190204.13},
abstract = {The current Iranian constitution is the product of two irreconcilable and at times contradictory perspectives, i.e., a merger of the traditional guidelines from Shiite Islam (or Sharia law) with some principles similar in spirit to the French constitution. The purpose of this literature review is to objectively examine the contents of the Iranian constitution and elaborate on the similarities and differences compared with the principles enshrined in the French constitution that made France a major cradle of Western democracy. Despite the limited analytical literature available on the subject, the authors selected the relevant articles and books to critically compare and contrast the language and spirit of the Iranian constitution versus its French counterpart. The Iranian constitution is a reflection of the Islamic theocracy and fundamentalism, combined with democratic-appearing but irreconcilable articles to govern the nation’s affairs by three branches of independent yet controlled government. The constitution provides the freedom to obey the absolute and unaccountable Leader, and the 177 articles that are claimed to be sufficient for prosperity in this world and the eternal life after. The outcome of the Iranian constitution, which was never tested in a real society before its ideals were put into practice in Iran, suggest that the Islamic guidelines are not reconcilable for the most part with those of the modern democracies as a method of governance in the 21st century.},
year = {2019}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Iranian Constitution: A Compilation of Irreconcilable Articles AU - Sara Zalzar AU - Sadegh Zibakalam Y1 - 2019/12/17 PY - 2019 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13 DO - 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13 T2 - Journal of Political Science and International Relations JF - Journal of Political Science and International Relations JO - Journal of Political Science and International Relations SP - 93 EP - 100 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2640-2785 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.13 AB - The current Iranian constitution is the product of two irreconcilable and at times contradictory perspectives, i.e., a merger of the traditional guidelines from Shiite Islam (or Sharia law) with some principles similar in spirit to the French constitution. The purpose of this literature review is to objectively examine the contents of the Iranian constitution and elaborate on the similarities and differences compared with the principles enshrined in the French constitution that made France a major cradle of Western democracy. Despite the limited analytical literature available on the subject, the authors selected the relevant articles and books to critically compare and contrast the language and spirit of the Iranian constitution versus its French counterpart. The Iranian constitution is a reflection of the Islamic theocracy and fundamentalism, combined with democratic-appearing but irreconcilable articles to govern the nation’s affairs by three branches of independent yet controlled government. The constitution provides the freedom to obey the absolute and unaccountable Leader, and the 177 articles that are claimed to be sufficient for prosperity in this world and the eternal life after. The outcome of the Iranian constitution, which was never tested in a real society before its ideals were put into practice in Iran, suggest that the Islamic guidelines are not reconcilable for the most part with those of the modern democracies as a method of governance in the 21st century. VL - 2 IS - 4 ER -
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