Transcript Iran: Political Institutions AP Comparative Government  The theocracy in Iran is represented in the government by the Supreme Leader and two governmental.

Iran: Political
Institutions
AP Comparative Government
 The theocracy in Iran is represented in the government by the
Supreme Leader and two governmental bodies: the Guardian
Council and the Expediency Council.
Government/P
arties
 The President, the Assembly of Religious Experts, and the national
assembly (the Majles) are democratically elected
 While the constitution allows for political parties, they were not
allowed by the government until Muhammad Khatami’s election
in 1997
 New parties appeared for the Majles elections of 2007 and
presidential elections of 2009 and 2013
 Parties are highly unstable are rarely make it from election to election
 Citizens over the age of eighteen (a change from the age of fifteen
in 2007) may vote for members of the Assembly of Religious
Experts, representatives of the Majles, and the President of the
Republic
Elections
 The republic is very centralized but there are some local elections
 Elections for the Majles and the presidency are plurality or winner
take all
 There is no proportional representation
 Elections are however run in two rounds, so of the last two
contenders, one will receive a majority vote
Elections
 In the 2004 and 2008 Majles elections, thousands of candidates
running for reformist parties were banned from the elections
 This resulted in conservative candidates winning 70% of the seats
 In 2008, the reformists were able to win a few more seats, but the
Majles was still overwhelmingly controlled by the conservatives
 In 2005, President Khatami was forced to step down because he
had reached his two-term maximum
Elections
 Thousands of candidates were again disqualified from running for
president
 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was able to win the election in 2005
because of an un-unified reform party
 In 2008, Ahmadinejad ran for re-election and won 63% of the vote
 This surprised many as polls had shown the candidates were very
close in support
 Massive protests broke out and there are reports that some arrested
were tortured and killed for their participation
Elections of
2012 and 2013
 In the 2012 elections, most candidates were seen to either be
representative of then president Ahmadinejad or of the Supreme
Leader Khamenei
 Despite huge numbers of reformer candidates being disqualified by
the guardian council, reformers were able to win 14.1% of the seats
in the Majles
 In the 2012 election, former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani
was able to win the election with 50.7% of the vote
 Due to the inconsistency of the parties, it is often hard to
distinguish between parties and interest groups
Interest
Groups
 The Worker’s House interest group is important and works to
support factory workers
 Few business interest groups have formed because of the dwindling
number of private businesses
 The government controls 65-80%, of the economy which limits the
impact an interest group can have
 Over 20 newspapers were shutdown after the Revolution of 1979
 7 more were closed by 1981
 In 1981, it was made illegal by the Majles to use pen and speech
against the government
 While limitations to free speech have been somewhat softened,
there are still major issues with free speech concepts
Mass Media
 In the 1990’s and under Khatami permits were issued to numerous
newspapers, but after a new law was passed in 2000 government
control over the press, 60 reform newspapers were shutdown
 This law was ruled by the Council of Guardians to be legislation that
could not be overturned by future law
 The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is a state owned
broadcasting company which controls all radio and television
stations in the country
 Most papers are privately owned.
Mass Media
 Iran has more freedom than the majority of other countries in the
region
 The elite in Iran are well educated and many publications are
professional or recreational journals
 Most publications are nonpolitical