1. STUDENT NOTES - 3

3. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Cleavages
Religion
Almost 90% Shia, 10% Sunni, around 1% either Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, or Baha’I
Constitution of 1979 recognizes and respects the rights of religious minorities, though Jews, Christians, and Baha’i are often persecuted
Constitution does not mention Sunnis

4. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Importance of Shiism
Invaded by Arabs regularly from 7th through 16th centuries, bringing Islam to the region
Religion became the “glue” holding Persians together
Shia/Sunni Divide (7th Century)
Muhammad died without designating an heir
Sunnis wanted the caliph to succeed (Caliphs were heads of the designated leadership, called the Sunni)
Shiites wanted a hereditary heir of Muhammad to succeed (Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali)
Ali was killed, Shia became a minority, believing heirs of Ali (imams) were the true carriers of Islam
12th Decendent disappeared as a child, leading to the legend of a “Hidden Imam” – will return to establish Islamic rule again

5. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Cleavages
Ethnicity
51% Persian, speaking Persian (Farsi)
24% Azeri, concentrated in the Northwest
Shiia, but don’t speak Farsi (Khamenei is Azeri)
Fear of Iranian government that they may want to unite with Azerbaijan
7% Kurdish, 3% Arab (both Sunnis)

6. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Turks believe that they are the original inhabitants of Iran
Several Turkish dynasties have ruled Iran: Safavids, Qajars, Seljuk, and Ghaznavid
Kurds and the Azeris seek independence and have frequently agitated for more cultural freedom and a greater degree of autonomy
Both groups are concentrated in the north
Muhammad Reza Shah and his father successfully thwarted any secessionist tendencies of both groups
Now only a select few seek to still get independence from Iran

7. BAHAI PERSECUTION
Baha’i’s have been persecuted because Shi’ites believe it to be an unholy offshoot of Islam
Leaders have been killed, imprisoned, tortured, schools have closed and property taken by state
Many have immigrated to Canada along with large groups of Jews and Armenian Christians
Sunni Muslims are in a similar situation and rights are unclear

8. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE: CLEAVAGES

9. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Cleavages
Social class
Peasantry and lower middle class support the regime, having benefited from its programs
Middle and upper class people tend to be secularized and critical of the clerics
Reformers vs. Conservatives
Reformers want secularization, democracy, open relations with the West
Conservatives want to preserve the clerical and sharia regime

10. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE: POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION
Driven from above by state and below by social practices
Above: education, media, military
Seek to limit pluralism, promote nationalism, demonize the west, denounce dynasty/revere revolution, gender roles, Basij monitor activity
Official Friday congregational prayers
Social practice: family, neighborhood, social groups
Tell THEIR version of Iranian history
Tehran University center of secular opposition
Trumping state efforts at obedience and conformity

11. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE: POLITICAL CULTURE
Intense national pride
Intense distrust of “the West”
Do not trust government
Highly conflictual – protest
Pre-Revolution – people were dissatisfied with governments intrusion into private lives in civil society
Post-Revolution – hasn’t changed much!
Legitimacy issues: God, religious texts, Supreme Leader, elected institutions, people, revolution, elections

12. How have Iranian leaders democratized the political process?
Liberalization of the press and other media.
Currently, the press is independent, but heavily regulated by the government.
Satellite dishes are illegal, but many Iranians have them anyway.
Elections (regular; competitive)
In 2003, however, the Council of Guardians chose not to vet candidates. Even avowed secularists were allowed to run.
In 2005, many secular Iranians boycotted the elections as a form of protest to the disqualification of candidates.
2009 – Green Movement
Allowing more political parties/ allowing more candidates to run.
Broadened participation of women. “Islamic feminism”
Relaxation of the dress codes (examples of civil liberties)
Veiling is now enforced less strictly and partial covering of the head called “mal-veiling” has spread.
Beginning in 1999, they have allowed for local/city elections.
However, ultimate power rests with the unelected bodies so voting is seen as a futile exercise

13. How have they resisted democratization of the political process?
Still, vetting of candidates.
Shari’ah law governs election procedures
The Basij morality police is a pro-regime volunteer organization that monitors and contends with the political activities of students and faculties. They often mobilize political activities of students for pro-regime activities on the campuses.
Arresting professors/dissenter/demonstrations.
Criticism of Supreme Leader forbidden.
Guardian Council vetoes legislature. All are directly or indirectly appointed by the Leader.
Blocking the Internet.
Divorce laws are still degrading to women.
According to Islamic law, marriage is a contract whose clauses have to be agreed upon freely by both husband and wife. A woman has the right to ask her marriage contract include a clause giving her the right to initiate divorce proceedings. This clause, in the past, has had to be added to the standard contract issued by the state, which was rarely allowed (meaning women did not have the right to ask for a divorce.)

14. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
CIVIL SOCIETY
Pre-Revolution – people were dissatisfied with governments intrusion into private lives in civil society
Post-Revolution – hasn’t changed much!
Many professionals leave the country
Exception – “Tehran Spring” under president Khatami ( )
Cautious political liberalization, loosening of speech and press rights, friendlier stance to West
Reversed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reinstituted by Hassan Rouhani
Iran has a VERY young population!
Regime encouraged large families in its first years
Goods were rationed per capita, making it better to have more children

15. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Iran has a VERY young population!
Regime encouraged large families in its first years
Goods were rationed per capita, making it better to have more children
Over 60 percent under 30 years old.
represent one of the greatest long-term threats to the current form of theocratic rule.
Many professionals leave the country
biggest bloc involved in the region’s first sustained “people power” movement for democratic change, creating a new political dynamic in the Middle East.

16. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Unemployment: Even with a university degree, it takes about three years to find a job. And vast numbers of young people end up chronically underemployed, which has produced a widespread sense that their future prospects are bleak. Employment issues have contributed to other problems, including alcohol and drug abuse, prostitution and runaways, escape into marriages that end in early divorce, social unrest, and the flight of the educated class. Iran has one of the world’s highest rates of brain drain

17. Policies:
The government widely distributed all kinds of birth control through state sanctioned condemn factories.
Offered free sterilization to men and women
Encourages reductions in family size (1989-present)
State-controlled media campaigns to raise awareness.
Mandatory marital sex counseling for men and women to provide education on how to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Increased education/employment opportunities for women, as more education for females leads to lower birth rates.

18. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
The Basij, or “mobilization of the oppressed,” is a quasi-volunteer paramilitary organization with branches in most mosques, universities, government offices, and public institutions

19. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Elections
Suffrage for all over 18 to vote for president, Majles, and Assembly of Experts
Majles is a first-past-the-post plurality system, no PR
Presidential is a 2-round majority system
Interest Groups
Tough to draw the line between these and parties in Iran
Labor is organized, but business is not, given that government controls 65-80% of the economy

20. GREEN MOVEMENT
The 2009–10 Iranian election protests were a series of protests following the 2009 Iranian presidential election against the disputed victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi which occurred in major cities in Iran and around the world starting June 13th 2009.

21. 2009 ELECTION The Green Movement
3 million peaceful demonstrators turned out on Tehran streets to protest official claims that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the 2009 presidential election
Their simple slogan was: “Where is my vote?”
widely seen as a new non-violent, non-utopian and populist paradigm of revolution that infused twenty-first century Internet technology with people street power

22. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
The Prerevolutionary Legacy
Limited competitive elections
Suffrage for women
Parties weak
Postrevolutionary Parties
Islamic Republican Party (IRP)
Factionalism: ideological differences
Conservatives
Pragmatists
Reformers
1990s: Khatami’s election, more parties appeared on scene, alliances are fluid

23. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Political Parties
Constitution allows them, but government didn’t until 1997
Highly unstable party system, changes around personalities – coalitions form and break apart regularly - but in the last election:
Moderation and Development Party – Hassan Rouhani’s reformist party, won 50.8% in first round
Islamic Society of Engineers – formerly party of Ahmadinejad’s conservative party, but broke off in Supported Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in 2013 and won 16% of the vote
Many other minor competitors in presidential and Majles elections

24. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Women and the Political System
“The Veil” – required in public by regime, symbolizes oppression to westerners, but not so much to Iranian women
20th century Iranian women have had better access to education than other Mid-East countries
About half of university students are women
Law towards women is “equality with difference”
sharia is interpreted to favor males in divorce and custody disputes
cannot leave the country without the consent of male relatives
Women are about 33% of the labor force
Women rarely get elected to the Majles (4.1%)

25. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE
Mass Media
1981 Majles passed a law making it a crime to use “pen and speech” against the government
Restrictions lifted from time to time, but reimposed when demonstrations pose a problem to the regime
Government owns radio and television broadcasting, but newspapers and magazines are typically privately owned

26. Media in Iran is both privately and publicly owned.
Both are subject to censorship by the government.
The government engages in censorship programs to anything divergent from the country’s regulations.
The majority of Iranians, around eighty-percent, receive their news from government-owned media.
This helps reduce the assimilation of news into the public sphere that the government does not approve of.
Many Iranian citizens use VPN networks to surpass the governments internet restrictions to use social media’s such as Twitter and Facebook.

27. POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT

28. How is Iran a Rentier State?
Iran’s main export is oil, and because taxes do not guarantee much revenue, Iran is dependent on its income from oil. As a result, Iran’s economy will fluctuate due to the changes in the market.
Resource curse—the concept that revenue derived from abundant natural resources, such as oil, often bring unforeseen ailments to countries.

29. Current Policy Challenges
First decade of Islamic Republic:
Some redistribution of wealth
Leadership mostly from middle-class backgrounds
Adopted populist policies, bettered poor
Poverty, inequality, underemployment continue
Constitution fiercely opposed to communism
Job creation very inadequate
Need to increase economic output: population grows 600,000 a year
Dissatisfaction with status quo among ethnic minorities
Corruption

30. Current Policy Challenges
Foreign Policy
Under Shah - US an ally
Now – neither East nor West
1990s: national interest rather than exporting revolution dominated
Third World desire to escape hegemony of West
Regional trade in goods, services with Middle East
Main issue confronting Iranian diplomacy is nuclear program
International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring
Sanctions