Examining the Relationship between State Structure and the Electoral Institution in Iran (1906–1979)
Subject Areas : Research in Theoritical Politics
Mehdi Zibaei
1
,
hakem ghasemi
2
,
seyedhadi azimi
3
1 - Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Imam Khomeini International University, Iran.
2 - Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
3 - PhD Student, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
Keywords: State formation, electoral institution, Constitutional Revolution, Islamic Revolution, social power.,
Abstract :
Examining the Relationship between State Structure
and the Electoral Institution in Iran (1906–1979)
Mehdi Zibaei*
Hakim Ghasemi**
Seyed Hadi Azimi***
The present study seeks to answer the question: What impact did the structure of power have on the institution of elections during the Constitutional era? It appears that due to historical contexts and the imbalance of power resources, the structure of power in Iran rendered the institution of elections meaningless. Between the years 1906 to 1979, the power structure prevented the formation of free and fair elections through which the people could express their will by electing parliamentary representatives. This paper aims to examine the relationship between state formation and the establishment of the electoral institution in Iran during the period between the Constitutional and Islamic revolutions, through a combined lens of historical sociology’s theory of the state and Michel Foucault’s concept of “biopower.”
Keywords: State formation, electoral institution, Constitutional Revolution, Islamic Revolution, social power.
Introduction
The Constitutional Revolution was a significant step toward making the institution of government accountable to the people’s representatives. According to the constitutional law, the elected parliament supervised the government and could question and dismiss it. Elections were the most prominent feature of the constitutional system, through which the National Consultative Assembly, elected by the people, was to be formed as a representative body within Iran’s power structure, legislating and overseeing the pillars of power. Both the National Consultative Assembly and the Senate, under the constitutional law, had the right to supervise, question, and impeach the government.
The structure of power in Iran has a historical background and has always, for various reasons, taken on a personal and tribal form. After the Constitutional Revolution, the power structure faced new conditions. The constitutional movement sought to limit and make power accountable through law and to establish the parliament as the representative of the nation. On one hand, the power structure, in order to preserve itself, reproduced pre-constitutional relations under the guise of constitutionalism. On the other hand, parliamentarians and legal activists, at least until the late 1930s, tried to achieve free and genuine elections.
This paper aims to answer the question: “What impact did the structure of power have on the institution of elections during the Constitutional era?” Therefore, the relationship between the power structure and the electoral institution from the Constitutional Revolution to the Islamic Revolution will be examined through a hybrid model combining the theory of the state in historical sociology and Michel Foucault’s concept of “biopower.”
Method
This paper draws freely from the views of Michael Mann, Michel Foucault, and Homayoun Katouzian, combining elements from their theories to outline a model for the relationship between power structure and elections in Iran. According to Michael Mann’s theory, the structure of power is formed based on a fourfold model of political, economic, ideological, and military power. If these four powers are balanced and independent social classes emerge from the state through the electoral institution, a form of biopower arises whose goal is to preserve, multiply, and strengthen life. This leads to the formation and continuation of an institutional statism model.
In the absence of balance among the four powers—due to lack of continuity, absence of social classes, and absence of politics—no change occurs in the power structure or the autocratic government of Iran. In such a case, elections become a process for producing and reproducing the mere structure of autocratic power. This model results in the formation of a genuine elitism model.
Findings and Argument
This paper shows that a balance among the types of power in Iran after the Constitutional Revolution could have favorably emerged and created the conditions for free and inclusive elections only if the interests of political, social, military, and ideological powers simultaneously aligned with the electoral mechanism as a means of transferring power. Such agreement, in conditions where these powers lacked the necessary capacity to act and resist despotism, could have served as a barrier against other powers.
According to the findings of this article, one of the most significant obstacles to forming an institutional statism model was the lack of appropriate mechanisms in the constitution to support democrats and advocates of free elections in confronting military power. The absence of strategies to organize supporters of institutional statism also made consensus among various powers against military dominance impossible. Neglecting the importance of the ideological power of the clergy and religious institutions in shaping the power structure was another issue that emerged after the Constitutional Revolution. This imbalance of power paved the way for the formation of a genuine elitism model throughout much of the period from the Constitutional Revolution to the Islamic Revolution. Thus, in the years following the Constitutional Revolution, the power structure lacked the capacity to institutionalize genuine elections.
Conclusion
Despite the efforts of constitutionalists to establish and institutionalize the electoral institution, the imbalance among the four powers during the years 1906 to 1925 and again from 1941 to 1953 ended with the dominance of military power. Consequently, constitutionalists failed to achieve an institutional statism model based on biopower through elections. The dominance of military power over ideological, economic, and political powers led to Reza Khan ascending the throne in 1925 and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi neutralizing the electoral institution through the 1953 coup, turning parliament into a branch of the royal court.
This trend resulted in genuine elitism governing most of the Constitutional era. The lack of powerful economic institutions capable of resisting the ruling power, the absence of efforts by ideological power to pursue free and genuine elections, and the weakness of military power were the main factors preventing the continuation of the free election experience. These factors rendered the alignment between law and societal demands irrelevant. Throughout the 72-year history of the Constitutional era, the electoral institution, under the shadow of biopower rooted in autocratic government, lost its ability to limit ruling power and had only a short-lived existence.
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* Corresponding Author: Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Imam Khomeini International University, Iran.
zibaei@soc.ikiu.ac.ir
** Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
ghasemi@ikiu.ac.ir
*** PhD Student, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
azimiseyedhadi@yahoo.com
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