Iran and Great Britain Unitary States

Characteristics of Unitary States as Opposed to Characteristics of Federal States  regime in which subnational units have little or no power  a state whose executive, legislature and judiciary are governed constitutionally as one single unit  one constitutionally created parliament  fusion of powers  sub-governmental units can be created or abolished by the central government Versus  state which has a constitutional practice of granting subnational units considerable power  executive, legislature and judiciary are three separate branches  separation of powers

Positives and Negatives of Unitary States Positives  Uniformity  Not so complicated  Considered less time-consuming  Considered less costly Negatives  Little distribution of power  Fewer leadership opportunities  Less citizen-oriented action  Less balance  Less diversity

Iran as a Unitary State  Theocracy- a form of government in which a god or deity is recognized as the state's supreme civil ruler, or in a broader sense, a form of government in which a state is governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided  Islamic Republic- a state under a particular theocratic form of government advocated by some Muslim religious leaders; the penal code of the state is required to be compatible with some laws of Sharia, Islamic laws are technically considered to override laws of the state, though in reality their relative hierarchy is ambiguous  Supreme Leader- title given to the ayatollah who sits atop all Iranian political institutions; has the authority to overrule or dismiss the president, appoints members of the Guardian Council and has personal representatives in the army and universities  Supreme Leader has essentially ultimate power over all policies within the state  Iran is essentially a blend of limited democracy and theocracy

Great Britain as a Unitary State  Constitutional Monarchy- form of national government in which the power of the monarch (the king or queen) is restrained by a parliament, by law, or by custom  Officially Britain remains a unitary state, the central government has full authority over all policies within the competence of the regime  Devolution- the process of decentralizing power from national governments that stops short of federalism, gives greater degree of self rule to sub-central or self-identified communities  Monarch is essentially a figurehead  Great Britain is a substantive democracy  QUANGOS- interest groups, increasingly active

The Iranian State  Power is exercised in constitutional and non-constitutional ways: undemocratic religious elite sets the conditions for elections and representative government, elected leaders and legislators are regularly and constitutionally vetoed by the autocrats  Majles- the Iranian parliament  Supreme National Security Council- organization responsible for Iran’s intelligence, military, security and strategic policies  Assembly of Experts- an informal body in Iran that has de facto power over all major political decisions  Guardian Council- the leading theological body in Iran for political purposes  Expediency Council- a half lay and half clerical body designed to smooth relations between those two communities in Iran at the highest levels  faqih- Jurist, an expert in Islamic jurisprudence  Iran is a procedural democracy, if that

The British State  A sovereign parliament elects a government led by a prime minister  House of Lords (appointed)- the weaker upper house of the British Parliament, has power to temporarily delay enactment of legislation  House of Commons (elected)- the all-important lower house of the British Parliament, legislative branch to represent the people, provide a forum for policy debate, voting behavior of members of the House of Commons is principally determined by party affiliation  Supreme Courts and Constitutional Court  unwritten constitution- Britain does not have a formal constitution, it relies on precedent, Acts of Parliament, common law, though unwritten can undergo reform and revisions  parliamentary sovereignty- Parliament decides what is lawful, accepted by people

Government Structure of Iran

Government Structure of Great Britain

Why Unitary States?  People of country share common ground  Lack of constitutions/strong constitutions  Lack of independent financial powers