Democracy

Open Access Article

1 - The flexibility of despotism and Authoritarianism after Arabic revolutions
hassan kamran

In December 2011, popular uprising swept away Middle East and Africa north and wondered the world. This uprising led to Chain and unprecedented protests in the Arab region from Tunisia, Egypt Morocco to Yemen and Bahrain and took the protests to the street to call freed More

In December 2011, popular uprising swept away Middle East and Africa north and wondered the world. This uprising led to Chain and unprecedented protests in the Arab region from Tunisia, Egypt Morocco to Yemen and Bahrain and took the protests to the street to call freedom, justice, democracy, human right and in one word “change”. Purpose of this research is present of comprehensive percept of Arab uprisings and explanation of popular sudden and spontaneity uprising in Middle East in year 2011 and until now. Method of research is descriptive and analytical method. This research based on credible sources is looking for to answer to this question “what causes and fields led to failure of Arabic revolutions and return of instability and continuing tyranny to Arab world. Findings of this research shows that sets of internal and external causes and varieties such as lack of essential cultural contexts (conditions) to establish of democracy, lack of political and judicial Institutionalization, weak of developments and economic and military Institutionalization and intervention of extra0regional power such as America, lack of Charismatic and empowered leader and weak of Discourse and people mobilization and…..have contributed in defeat revolution of Egypt ,Libya and Yemen and continuation of tyranny and Deficiency of democracy in Arab world. This research using theory of John Furan and Goldstone is going to explain why and how rise of different results in Arabic countries after Arab uprising year 2010 until now. Manuscript profile

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2 - Islam and Democracy in Youssef Al Gharzavi’s Political Thought
مرتضي بحراني

This article seeks to explain the role of democracy in Islamic political thought of Youssef Al Gharzavi. In his view, Islam has recognized democracy and has specified rules and criteria for it. Promoting goods and preventing evils, council, allegiance, and women partici More

This article seeks to explain the role of democracy in Islamic political thought of Youssef Al Gharzavi. In his view, Islam has recognized democracy and has specified rules and criteria for it. Promoting goods and preventing evils, council, allegiance, and women participation in social and political arena are examples for these rules. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

3 - Post Marxism and "Post Marxism
Mohammadreza Tajik

Why shall we be rethinking Socialist project today? As the answer to this question, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe try to take an active, conscious, and not a passive, unconscious role in the contemporary history. They choose as their goal, a (relatively) clear separ More

Why shall we be rethinking Socialist project today? As the answer to this question, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe try to take an active, conscious, and not a passive, unconscious role in the contemporary history. They choose as their goal, a (relatively) clear separation from the conflicts they take part in; and understanding the changes that happen in front of their eyes. At the last analysis, they find out that it is necessary to use Derrida's deconstruction method to challenge the structure and the foundation of Orthodox Marxism. Manuscript profile

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4 - Internet and Political Development: Public Sphere in Cyberspace
محمدقلي ميناوند

During the last decade of the 20th century, along with extraordinarily fast developments and evolutions in computer-based communication, and also the increasingly widespread access of different societies to the internet and cyber-networks, considerable efforts have been More

During the last decade of the 20th century, along with extraordinarily fast developments and evolutions in computer-based communication, and also the increasingly widespread access of different societies to the internet and cyber-networks, considerable efforts have been made to find an appropriate pattern for studying internet and the dimensions of its political and social impacts. Among these efforts, the concept of public sphere defined according to sociological ideas of Jurgen Habermas has gained an outstanding status. In this field, researchers are usually interested in answering the question that whether computer-based communication in the net can pave the way for political development and reinforcement of democracy through the revival of public sphere? In order to answer this question, we have to basically know whether the idea of public sphere is an appropriate theoretical pattern for researching this field or not? Each of the theoretical works and researches accomplished during recent years -of which some are mentioned in this article- have taken some aspects of the concept of public sphere into consideration and have used the concept to study the relation between internet, politics and power, and also their reciprocal impacts. These studies suggest that according to many researchers the concept of public sphere proves to be an appropriate theoretical pattern; but except few scholars, all believe that this pattern needs some modification or adaptation to specific conditions of computer-based communication and the recent evolutions in different societies. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

5 - The Origin of Youth Movement in Iran
مسعود غفاري

This article intends to express the origin of the Iranian Youth Movement during 1981-2001. During these three decades, the Youth Movement has been one of the most significant social movements in the political realm of Iran. For elaborating the source of this movement, “ More

This article intends to express the origin of the Iranian Youth Movement during 1981-2001. During these three decades, the Youth Movement has been one of the most significant social movements in the political realm of Iran. For elaborating the source of this movement, “generation gap” and “democracy” have been surveyed as the two factors; while the results show that the origin of the Youth Movement in Iran has been the opposition of democracy and authoritarianism; and not generation gap. This article has used the results of some formal research inquiries in addition to the official statistics as well. Manuscript profile

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6 - The Antigone of Sophocles and Athenian Democracy
مصطفي يونسي

The main purpose of this article is to find the relation between political implications of Sophocles’s Antigone and “Athenian Democracy”. To do so, we have used a structuralist approach the main feature of which is exploring binary oppositions in the text which in turn More

The main purpose of this article is to find the relation between political implications of Sophocles’s Antigone and “Athenian Democracy”. To do so, we have used a structuralist approach the main feature of which is exploring binary oppositions in the text which in turn results in finding the oppositions within the political-social life that provides a ground for the creation of the text. From the point of view of political thought, the most prominent opposition in the tragedy of Antigone which creats a network of oppositions around itself, is the one drawn between “family”- with its values- and “political system” and the relationships among the citizenry. The importance of this opposition has been confirmed by Christian Meier, Jean Pierre Vernant, Charles Segal, and even Micheal Zelnak.It reveals a transition to the epoch of citizenry’s relations. It also caused the confrontation between “unwritten divine laws” and “man-made written laws”, the opposition that is the main focus of the present article. Manuscript profile

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7 - The Influence of Technology on Democracy: Technological Democracy
سیدهدایت سجادی

There are two general views on the impact of technology on democracy: a) technology is a threat to democracy, b) technology provides proper grounds for democracy. The aim of this article is to study the consequences of the influence of technology on democracy. Taking te More

There are two general views on the impact of technology on democracy: a) technology is a threat to democracy, b) technology provides proper grounds for democracy. The aim of this article is to study the consequences of the influence of technology on democracy. Taking technologistic and cultural approaches, this paper studies the influence of technology on the four components of democracy as a government system- decision making policy, human beings as decision makers, community as consisting of individuals, and procedures of determining destiny- and argues that technology is an integral part of democracy in modern technological era to the extent that it entails making the new term as «technological democracy. This term overshadows the question of whether technology is a threat or opportunity to democracy. The question would be significant, when its purpose is to reconcile democracy and technology. Manuscript profile

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8 - Chinese Society of Homogeneity and Harmony: A Critical and Analytical Approach
حسین جمالی

China, experiencing fundamental changes and transformations, has attracted many attentions, today. One of the changes in the past decade was in its leaders’ orientations to constructing a homogeneous and harmonious society which entails solidarity among its human commun More

China, experiencing fundamental changes and transformations, has attracted many attentions, today. One of the changes in the past decade was in its leaders’ orientations to constructing a homogeneous and harmonious society which entails solidarity among its human communities, and its adaptability with nature. Studying such a society in the light of objectives of development, theories on transition to democracy, adaptability of socialism, modernism and tradition, ideological and utopian processes, and functions of political systems can to a greet effect make its complex aspects clear . The main idea of the present paper is that pragmatism has functioned more effectively in China’s progress towards a homogeneous and harmonious society than any other factors, very function of which can be evaluated just considering their interactions with pragmatism. Manuscript profile

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9 - The Crisis in Nation- State and its Possible Future
ایوب امیرکواسمی

The current upheavals suggest that nation-state has lost its functional tenability; that is because the supposed basic functions of such systems that were maintenance of ideology, economics, culture, and so on at the national level are facing crises. Nation-state can no More

The current upheavals suggest that nation-state has lost its functional tenability; that is because the supposed basic functions of such systems that were maintenance of ideology, economics, culture, and so on at the national level are facing crises. Nation-state can no longer fully implement their political ideals at national areas. In the functionalist approach, the existence of institutions depends on their functions, so with no place for their functions, the survival of nation-state will be unintelligible .The principle objective of this paper is to study a possible future of nation-states and their successors. The method of the study is reasoning. The results of this paper include two important points: the development of statehood and the formation of global political order based on democracy. Manuscript profile

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10 - Globalization, Social movements, and Democracy in Iran

During the recent decades, the world has experienced extensive cultural, social, economical, and political changes. Many scholars believe that in accordance with the changes in different areas of human life, taking a vast perspective to study culture and politics has be More

During the recent decades, the world has experienced extensive cultural, social, economical, and political changes. Many scholars believe that in accordance with the changes in different areas of human life, taking a vast perspective to study culture and politics has become of necessity. Hence, in modern sociology of politics, globalization has turned to one of key concepts and variables in explaining political and social changes. On the other hand, social movements are among the phenomena of great development in the modern time, so that today the social movements throughout the world, including Iran, have been developing along with the growth in the various aspects of globalization. The findings of this research show that globalization has affected social movements in Iran. One major effect has been establishing strong link between these movements. The present article tries to answer this question, “What is common ground of the social movements in Iran together?” Our study shows that the democracy has been the common demand of all social movements in Iran and their linking point. Manuscript profile

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11 - Internet and Radical Democracy: Introduction to the Formation of Radical Virtual Democracy
Meisam Ghahreman Majid Abbaszadeh Marzbali

Pluralist radical democracy of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe is a way to end any kind of innate thought about political life; a way in which sporadic powers, parallel hegemonies and as a result various discourses are formed. Discourses whose predicates’ capacities t More

Pluralist radical democracy of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe is a way to end any kind of innate thought about political life; a way in which sporadic powers, parallel hegemonies and as a result various discourses are formed. Discourses whose predicates’ capacities to satiation and saturating can turn them to hegemonic discourse; but something which seems very important in this radical democracy is that as a result of cultural development due to post-modernism and language games, otherness and plurality in society must be reserved in contest form. Authors believe that against the real world, this kind of contest can be applied in virtual space; hence we call it radical virtual democracy; a radical democracy which has great abilities to affect social and political life; therefore, the main question of this article which we try to answer is that, how is the formation and realization of radical virtual democracy caused by Internet? The hypothesis of the current writing is that the virtual space of Internet with its unique features like hypertext, hyper-network, interactional action and the decentralization of medium power which is assured by two features of access possibility to virtual identity and technical and non-exclusive skilled facilities, has the ability to form radical virtual democracy. Manuscript profile

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12 - Pluralist Democracy in Shariati's Point of view
Ahmad مجيد سفري دوغایی

With explaining his view in regard to nature and role of human in social processes particularly democracy, and offering evidences of shariati’s Collections and with describing democracy theories particularly Pluralistic democracy, and finally comparing and corresponding More

With explaining his view in regard to nature and role of human in social processes particularly democracy, and offering evidences of shariati’s Collections and with describing democracy theories particularly Pluralistic democracy, and finally comparing and corresponding them with together, this paper revealed that shariati not only have not any disagreement about democracy, but also find temporary the committed democracy and convinced to Pluralistic democracy. Manuscript profile

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13 - Political Utilitarianism andTheo-democracy
عبدالمجید مبلغی

The Paper investigates an epistemological question: is political utilitarianism adoptable with Theo-democracy? To find an answer for the question, itprovidesthe reader with abrief exploration of the history of political utilitarianism. Based on it, as the second step, i More

The Paper investigates an epistemological question: is political utilitarianism adoptable with Theo-democracy? To find an answer for the question, itprovidesthe reader with abrief exploration of the history of political utilitarianism. Based on it, as the second step, ittries to illustrate how political utilitarianism,especially according to John Stuart Mill’s approach,is adaptablewith the theory of Theo-democracy.The claim has been relied heavily over this judgment: Anutilitarian governmentcan be created evenwhen we accept a priority to amoral system.The paper tries to demonstratehow this epistemological judgment iscontrary to an understanding that there is no chance for adaptability between Islam and a set of moral codespresented via a taken political utility. Based on this approach, it tries to showpolitical utility is not necessarily and always an anti-religious theory. Manuscript profile

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14 - From Class Paradox to Discursive Gap: Reviewing the Classic Marxist from Laclau and Mouffe Post-marxist View
سید صدرا حسینی

Any school of thought throughout its history undergoes many changes and fluctuations. The complexity of the recent modern capitalist societies made the new Marxists to revive the opponents’ position of capitalist system. Laclau and Mouffe are among post-Marxists who are More

Any school of thought throughout its history undergoes many changes and fluctuations. The complexity of the recent modern capitalist societies made the new Marxists to revive the opponents’ position of capitalist system. Laclau and Mouffe are among post-Marxists who are engaged in this attempt. Their criticism of the classical Marxism is due to its dogmatic features and its one-sided and biased analyses. By proposing the concepts of discourse, articulation, mobile identities, hegemony and discursive gaps and conflicts, Laclau and Mouffe try to compensate for the one-sidedness of Classical Marxism which summarizes in economic determinism, class identities, class struggles, and social class gap. These changes are made to increase the effectiveness of Marxism in their analysis of recent modern and complex capitalist societies. The aim of this article is to survey the process of change of Classical Marxist thoughts to Laclau and Mouffe’s post-Marxism. Firstly, there will be a discussion about decentralization of the society following the Post-Marxist perspective, which substitutes the economic determinism in the formation of social order, and secondly, the study points to the idea of antagonism which is a shared concept in both Marxism and Post-Marxism views. The Classical Marxism viewed politics as the class conflict which is lost in the ultimate Communism of class conflict that resulted in a classless society. However, Laclau and Mouffe’s post-marxism points to the endless political conflict and considers it as an everlasting element of the society, and it deems the radical democratic policy as an element that preserves such a conflict. Manuscript profile

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15 - The Transformation of communicative action, public sphere, civil society and democracy in Iran (The case study: Iran, between the constitutional movement and the presidential election 10th)
مانا دشتگلی هاشمی هادی خانیکی Tahmineh Shaverdi

In this article, historical events and cases happening from the constitutional movement to the tenth presidential election of Iran, suggesting formation or non-formation of communicative action, public sphere, civil society and democracy, have been narrated and compared More

In this article, historical events and cases happening from the constitutional movement to the tenth presidential election of Iran, suggesting formation or non-formation of communicative action, public sphere, civil society and democracy, have been narrated and compared in a comparative study based on Boolean algebras. This study aimed at better understanding of Iranian society and identifying ups and downs that Iranian society has passed on the road to democracy regarding to communicative action, the public sphere and civil society since constitutional revolution until now, and tries to answer this question that how the relationship between communicative action, public sphere, civil society and democracy can be explained? Accordingly, the theoretical concepts of the research were reviewed and extracted from views of Arendt, Habermas, Gramsci, Lipset, Alain de Benoist and Bashiriyeh to get indices and indicators for these concepts. Then according to these indicators the situation of the communicative action, public sphere, civil society and democracy in five historical periods (since the constitutional movement to the tenth presidential election) were narrated and analyzed. During the narrative analysis of each period of time based on the presence and absence of each concept exemplar, zero (low intensity) and one (high intensity) were placed in Boolean table for each historical juncture and the relationship between these concepts were studied. Based on the findings it can be argued that despite the attempts and measures done by society, elites and part of state or government, three concepts of communicative action, public sphere and civil society were not so strong except in a few cases. Therefore, in different historical periods, lack of one of these three insufficient conditions impeded realization of democracy in Iran. Among these five historical periods, historic period of nationalization of oil is the only time that Iranian attempts to reach to the democracy has got a fruit and made democracy possible, thanks to the communicative action, public sphere and civil society. During the constitutional movement the historical cases that had traces of presence of communicative action or public sphere and during the reform era historical cases that referred to civil society and public sphere are more than the events that lack these concepts. But in the revolution and tenth presidential election of Iran the historical cases referring to communicative action, public sphere, civil society and democracy were less than events referring to these concepts. Manuscript profile

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16 - “Radical Liberal Democracy” as Foucault’s Alternative for Political Modernity
Ali Salehifarsani

The goal of this article is an evaluation of concrete effect of Foucault’s fundamental and genealogical criticism of modernity, and examining Foucault’s ideas that signify the political system and agency. Foucault believes in the de-transcendentalization of power and kn More

The goal of this article is an evaluation of concrete effect of Foucault’s fundamental and genealogical criticism of modernity, and examining Foucault’s ideas that signify the political system and agency. Foucault believes in the de-transcendentalization of power and knowledge in modern era. The problem is the effect of acceptance of de-transcendentalization of power on political agency, state and governmentality. Foucault’s de-transcendental view does not consider the political as something that is related to sovereignty, and by placing it in an undeterministic framework that is simultaneously cultural and political, he calls it governmentality. Sovereignty doesn't exist in a de-transcendental framework as it may make a person inferior to do something that he wants himself. In contrast, governmentality effects on the practice of ruled, as this is context of self-changing and self-regulating in their everyday behaviors. However, they are not made to do a work that they do not like, but power exercises freely and through the objectification of the subject over them. In response to this problem, Morris Barbie's theory of political modernity, applied as heuristic device for definition of the political and method of application is Arthur Lovejoy's history of ideas. The theory of political modernity prompts dichotomy of freedom-subjugation in two dimensions of state and civil society, in so that correspond with liberal democracy system through priority of subjugation. Hypothesis of this article is that Foucault’s belif that political modernity and liberal democracy system prompts the priority of subjugation and it leads to radical liberal democracy. Manuscript profile

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17 - Foundations and Application of “Otherness” for Social- political Order on the Thought of Richard Rorty
Khalil Sardarnus Hosein Mohseni

Tolerance and acceptation of “otherness”, is necessary for dynamism of socio-political order. Richard Rorty is one of the important post modern thinkers and philosophers that have had special attention to otherness concept in pragmatism with social utility. The aim of More

Tolerance and acceptation of “otherness”, is necessary for dynamism of socio-political order. Richard Rorty is one of the important post modern thinkers and philosophers that have had special attention to otherness concept in pragmatism with social utility. The aim of this research is to explain of the foundation of otherness concept and its pragmatic utility in socio- political sphere. In this study, the main question is: principally, what is the relationship between otherness concept and socio-political order in Richard Rorty thought? The final finding of this study shows that: by crticism of meta- narratives and rejecting of general truth, Rorty believes to plural order by emphasis on otherness presence and its utility for socio-political order that has been partly done in western liberal democracies with main shortcomings and difficulties. By criticism of modernity thoughts and its meta narratives and rejection of Descartes’ Cogito on the impact of Emanuel Levinas, believes that attention to necessity of otherness, tolerance and responsibility are important than the concept of “self”. In the thought of Richard Rorty, otherness goes beyond of philosophical contexts and extend to cohesion and sympathy in ethics sphere and to neo-pragmatism democracy in the politics scope. Manuscript profile

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18 - Citizenship as the Normative Implication of Phronetic Development
عباس منوچهری saeed nariman

The relationship between political philosophy and development, as the creation of conditions that would lead to "life betterment", was marginalized in the beginnings of the development of modern political thought. Due to the influence of ideas such as utilitarianism and More

The relationship between political philosophy and development, as the creation of conditions that would lead to "life betterment", was marginalized in the beginnings of the development of modern political thought. Due to the influence of ideas such as utilitarianism and the market economy, the twentieth century witnessed the re-emergence of the concept of development as growth. The mentioned concept claimed what civic/political knowledge sought from the beginning, namely "Good living". This paper is an attempt to rebalance this situation by developing a theory of phronetic development based on the Aristotelian concept of phronesis. Using an implicative approach, the paper argues for using the concept of citizenship as the normative implication of phronetic development. In order to do so, the paper deconstructs economic growth theory, exposes its reductionist conception of development, and reestablishes the link between moral philosophy, economy, politics, and development. In this conception, democracy as public reasoning, participation as empowering citizens' phronesis, and freedom are the main constitutive elements of phronetic development. Therefore, appropriate policies and measures should be put in place to promote citizenship that induces phronetic development. Manuscript profile

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19 - Factors and Obstacles Affecting the Role of Civic Institutions in the "Reform Period" in Iran: The Internal Dynamics of a Hybrid Political System
Alireza Khoshbakht Majid tavasoli Mohammadmahdi mojahedi

The purpose of this article is to discuss the political ups and downs of the “Reform era” in Iran (1997-2005). To analyze the “Islamic Republic of Iran” as a political regime and its dynamics, “Hybrid Regimes” theories have been used in current work. Such theories rejec More

The purpose of this article is to discuss the political ups and downs of the “Reform era” in Iran (1997-2005). To analyze the “Islamic Republic of Iran” as a political regime and its dynamics, “Hybrid Regimes” theories have been used in current work. Such theories reject the duality of Democracy-Authoritarianism and try to provide essential concepts for analyzing the regimes which are in the middle of the spectrum. Those regimes have unique features in comparison to Democratic or Authoritarian regimes. To analyze the Islamic Republic of Iran as a political regime and to explain the ups and downs of the “Reform era” in Iran, the studies of four researchers on “hybrid Regimes” have been used here. Some of the keynotes which have been applied to the current study to discuss the political ups and downs of that specific period are as follows: the importance of political competition, social and political backgrounds of creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a hybrid regime, and finally, the relation between such a regime and rentier economy in Iran. Finally, the article has concluded that the reformist’s earlier progress and their later withdraw and defeat could be considered as “inner dynamics of a hybrid regime” instead of the “the defeated transition to democracy”. Manuscript profile

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20 - The relationship between governmental method and the process of democratization and consolidation of democracy (Case study: Islamic Republic of Iran)
Mansour Ansari Mir ghasem seyedinzad

Basically, the issue of democratization and consolidation of democracy has been the main concern of humanity, especially intellectuals and philosophers throughout history; because, firstly, democracy is the most effective system for achieving balance and only order invo More

Basically, the issue of democratization and consolidation of democracy has been the main concern of humanity, especially intellectuals and philosophers throughout history; because, firstly, democracy is the most effective system for achieving balance and only order involves the least evil, and secondly, in the words of Alfred Smith, all the failures of democracy can be cured with more democracy. However, the rate and percentage of failures and defects are not the same in all countries; For this reason, it is necessary to analyze the systems that have fulfilled all the conditions of democracy to a great extent, the systems that have fulfilled some of the conditions of democracy and the systems that sometimes even have the minimum conditions of democracy. Systems with the first feature are usually democratized, systems with the second feature are hybrid, and systems with the third feature are undemocratic. Each of these governance methods has a direct or indirect relationship with the process of democratization and the consolidation of democracy. In principle, the main problem and question in this research are to explain the relationship between "governmental method" and "the process of democratization and consolidation of democracy" (problem and question). Achieving this goal is pursued with the help of "descriptive-analytical" methods and using the library and digital resources (method). It seems that among the various models of democracy, "minimal democracy" is more closely related to the governing periods of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and "maximum democracy" has the most positive impact on the "process of democratization and consolidation”. (Findings) Manuscript profile

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21 - Postmodernist Politics: William E. Connolly’s Agonistic Democracy
Faramarz Mirzazadeh AhmadBiglou

Postmodernism, by deconstructing all the foundations and meta-narratives, has created a situation in which pluralism is the basis for policy-making. While some scholars have spoken of the refusal to form politics in the postmodern space, and have considered the lack of More

Postmodernism, by deconstructing all the foundations and meta-narratives, has created a situation in which pluralism is the basis for policy-making. While some scholars have spoken of the refusal to form politics in the postmodern space, and have considered the lack of a basis for establishing political theory inappropriate, others have sought to establish a policy appropriate to this space, both theoretically and practically. Among them is "William Connolly", who, by inventing concepts such as multidimensional pluralism, onto-politics, politics of becoming, critical responsiveness, and agonistic respect, explained postmodern politics, and proportionate with multiplicity, pluralism, dispersion, and diversity of identities has proposed a practical solution. Agonistic democracy, which of course includes other founders and proponents such as Chantal Mouffe, David Owen, and James Tully, is a viable alternative to deliberative democracy and attends it as an inclusive, contingent, and accountable political life, by respectful contestation of wonderful, different and even contradictory new identities. Uncertainty, unpredictability, juxtaposition of divine and atheistic beliefs in the context of the multiplicity of gender, linguistic, racial and cultural identities are some of the components that Connolly has considered and explained in postmodern politics. Manuscript profile

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22 - Liberal-Democratic Theology and the New Political Science: A Reflection on Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Spinoza Theological-Political Efforts as Pioneers of the New Political Science
Shervin Moghimi Zanjani

The question of “what is the good?” was the main characteristic of the Socratic political philosophy. However, the modern political philosophy had to pass this question and like its enemy (namely revealed theology) present a definite and tangible definition of “the goo More

The question of “what is the good?” was the main characteristic of the Socratic political philosophy. However, the modern political philosophy had to pass this question and like its enemy (namely revealed theology) present a definite and tangible definition of “the good”. In other words, they had to show that philosophy, in addition to being the authoritative source of knowledge, can and must be the basis for promoting human life and a guide for attaining the good in practice. The role of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Spinoza from this point of view is so prominent. It seems that the good they defended, was the true origin of the values of a liberal democratic regime. These philosophers recognized that the necessity of the dogmatic definition of the good necessitates a theological-rhetorical expression to persuade the addresses. Therefore, without comprehending this theological-rhetorical backbone, the values of a liberal democratic regime cannot be understood completely. The modern political philosophy, on other hand, is the forbear of modern political science that its main subject is behavior and action of the citizens in a liberal democratic regime. Therefore, we can say that modern political science cannot be comprehended completely without contemplating on the ambivalent effort of these philosophers: on the one hand, their theological defense of the liberal democratic values, and on the other hand, their defense of a new scientific politics distinguished radically from ancient political knowledge. Manuscript profile

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23 - A Comparative Study of the Idea of Islamic Government in the Works of Abdolkarim Soroush and Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi
seyed mohsen ahmadi abbas Salehi Najafabadi qhasem Torabi

Familiarity with the ideas of thinkers provides the path for development of knowledge of their ideas in society both among the laity and the experts. The goal of the present article is the comparative study of the ideas of Abdolkarim Soroush and Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yaz More

Familiarity with the ideas of thinkers provides the path for development of knowledge of their ideas in society both among the laity and the experts. The goal of the present article is the comparative study of the ideas of Abdolkarim Soroush and Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi on Islamic government. Having provided , the ideas of these two thinkers as regards Islamic government in general and also as their intellectual dispute are delineated. The most important issue in this article is that what are the ideas of these two Muslim thinkers regarding the essence and philosophy of Islamic government? We have also debated the details of their ideas in order to provide a dependable account of them. This essay is based on hermeneuetical method. Through the study, the works of Soroush and Mesbah Yazdi as regards Islamic government have been compared. The methodology is librarary based and the result shows that the ideas of these two thinkers have their origin in the same intellectual origin though they have become divided in the course of time. This article can be helpful in the analysis of the works and ideas of other Muslim thinkers on Islamic government Manuscript profile

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24 - Editor's Note
Seyyed Mohammad Khamenei

حكمت‌گريزي و دوري از معنويت و اخلاق، در حكم فرار از انسانيت است و هر جامعه و هر فرهنگي كه از حكمت و معنويت بدور باشد يا از آن بگريزد، در دامان جاهليت‌ ‌افتاده و در لُجّه ظلمت فرو رفته است؛ چه كلام الهي حكمت را برابر «خير كثير» و هر فرد يا جامعه را كه از حكمت و صلاح رويگ More

حكمت‌گريزي و دوري از معنويت و اخلاق، در حكم فرار از انسانيت است و هر جامعه و هر فرهنگي كه از حكمت و معنويت بدور باشد يا از آن بگريزد، در دامان جاهليت‌ ‌افتاده و در لُجّه ظلمت فرو رفته است؛ چه كلام الهي حكمت را برابر «خير كثير» و هر فرد يا جامعه را كه از حكمت و صلاح رويگردان باشد، گرفتار «شّر كثير» و اسير فاسدان و ناصالحان يا همان «طاغوت» ـ يعني سركشان از قوانين و سنن الهي و فطرت و عقل سليم ـ دانسته است. نماد و مصداق اينگونه جوامع در زمان حال، جوامع غربي و مدّعيان انساندوستي و مدافعان دروغين حقوق بشر و آزادي ذاتي او ميباشند كه مدعي «رهبري دنياي آزاد» بودند و فرهنگ جاهلي خود را فرادست فرهنگها و تمدنهاي اصيل شرقي معرفي ميكردند. ملتي بي‌ريشه و نوپا و وارث بربريت طوايف مهاجم و مهاجر نيمه‌وحشي قديم اروپا، كه چشم ديدن نظامي اسلامي را نداشتند و با آن به خصومت ميپرداختند، ولي دست تقدير و سنت الهي پرده از فريبكاري دجّالانه آنها برداشت و كار دموكراسي و عقلانيت دروغين آنها به رسوايي كشيد. وقايع انتخاباتي رياست جمهوري آمريكا، امسال سبب گرديد دموكراسي و قانونمداري اين دولت مورد تمسخر مردم جهان قرار گيرد و نظام دور از انسانيت و بيرون از تمدن راستين اين جمع وحشي در پنهان، باطن خود را نشان داد. مروز، آشكارا كار نظامي كه مدعي عظمت و سروري بر جهان و بشر بود، به رسوايي كشيده شده و بحكم وعده الهي، اجلش فرا رسيده و نوبت نكبت و سقوط و از هم پاشيدگي او شده است، تا مردم مظلوم آن سرزمين و ستمديدگان ديگر جهان، بدور از ادعاي حكومت آمريكا بر دهكده جهاني، روي استقلال و زندگي سالم بخود ببينند. روي ديگر اين برگ تاريخ و در اين سوي جهان كه مشرق انوار الهي است، پديده ديگري هست؛ حكومتي كه بنام خدا و بر پايه» حكمت و بدست حكيمان الهي بر پا شده و هر روز سرافرازتر و پيروزتر به راه خود و ترويج تمدن عالي و انساني قرآني و اهل بيت عليهم السلام ادامه ميدهد و تماشاگر سقوط و هلاك كساني است كه با صراط مستقيم الهي محاربه ميكردند؛ «صدق‌الله العلي العظيم». Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

25 - Maxine Greene's Public Space: Beyond the Walls of the Standard Education
Bakhtiar Shabani Varaki Tahereh Javidi Kalateh Jafarabadi

The main purpose of this article is the representation of Maxine Greene views about public space and its major potentials for the rethinking of the educational behavior in schools. Thus, first of all, this idea is emphasized that public spaces are important places for d More

The main purpose of this article is the representation of Maxine Greene views about public space and its major potentials for the rethinking of the educational behavior in schools. Thus, first of all, this idea is emphasized that public spaces are important places for discussion (for dialog) and a free exchange of ideas and information, through which an individual human being can make his voice heard, while at the same time listening to other individuals’ voices, without being bothered by any fear and threat arising from a wide range of human contradictions, differences, conflicts and ambiguities that are inherent in human communication. Second, along with describing and criticizing the educational space governing the current schools, based on Greene ideas, it is demonstrated that the public space can provide new contexts for going beyond educational standards, and thus may secure grounds for the realization of agency, freedom, democracy and a shared world in the education of learners. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

26 - Globalization of Democracy, Transnationalization of Norms, and Plurality of Players in International Organizations
Mohammad یزدان‌پناه شوره‌گل سید محمدکاظم سجادپور

Due to rapid globalization, theoretical and practical areas of human life have undergone profound changes and, as a result of compactness of time and place, domestic and foreign spheres of nation-states have become intertwined. One of the most important examples of this More

Due to rapid globalization, theoretical and practical areas of human life have undergone profound changes and, as a result of compactness of time and place, domestic and foreign spheres of nation-states have become intertwined. One of the most important examples of this situation is the relationship between democracy within the nation-state and the wave of globalization beyond national borders. The main goal of this paper is to describe and expound the effects of globalization of democracy at international level on the real nature of international players and their performance in international organizations. The main question of the paper is: “What impact does the globalization of democracy have on international players in international organizations?” In response, the paper claims that “globalization of democracy has given birth to transnational democratic norms, thus, leading to plurality of players in international organizations.” The present study also poses a number of secondary questions, including those about the quality of globalization and its effect on national democratic states, emergence of nongovernmental players and their functions within international institutions. To do this, a descriptive-analytical method has been used in this research. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

27 - The Theoretical Underpinning of Political Culture of Elite Area and Good Governance in the Islamic Republic of Iran
hanieh graeeli korpi Masoud Motalebi Hosain Abolfazli Ali Salehifarsani

Good governance refers to achieving the rule of law, transparency, accountability, participation, equality, efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, individual freedom, press freedom, and active civil society. Along with these prerequisites, political culture, and in More

Good governance refers to achieving the rule of law, transparency, accountability, participation, equality, efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, individual freedom, press freedom, and active civil society. Along with these prerequisites, political culture, and in particular the political culture of the elites, is crucial in institutionalizing the principles of good governance, especially in developing countries. This subject has drawn the attention of certain good governance studies academics in recent decades. The results showed that if the political culture of the elites is democratic or accepts at least some minimal democratic values, it can act as the basis for advancing democracy or political development in the sense of raising political participation and competition. In societies where, for various and complex reasons, the political culture of the elites is anti-participatory in the sense of being anti-democratic, authoritarian political structures and an ideology consistent with it can pose a significant barrier to the advancement of democratic indicators. A political culture that is authoritarian and non-participatory acts as a factor that hinders political development. In contrast, democratic and participatory ideals and attitudes significantly influence a country's political development. This is more evident in emerging nations when elite political culture has a more robust coefficient of determination. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

28 - Paradigmatic Shifts and the Emergence of the Modern Western Nation-State
Saeed Attar Mohammad kamalizadeh

In this research, we aim to trace the various paths that ultimately led to the emergence of the modern nation-state and its implications in contemporary political structures worldwide. What we now recognize as the modern nation-state, which continues to exist in various More

In this research, we aim to trace the various paths that ultimately led to the emergence of the modern nation-state and its implications in contemporary political structures worldwide. What we now recognize as the modern nation-state, which continues to exist in various forms of political systems, has its roots in ancient and gradual transformations in the West (Europe). These developments can be depicted as a paradigmatic narrative of the dialectic of needs and responses. This narrative begins with ancient Greece and its devotion to rationality and freedom, and continues along different paths, on the one hand, with modern evangelical traditions and the exploration of Roman legal structures, and on the other hand, by passing through historical, social, political, and economic contexts, the great Western powers (England, France, Germany, and the United States) have pursued different paths towards the emergence of the modern state. In retracing these various paths, we have utilized Kuhn's paradigmatic approach. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

29 - Critical Discourse Analysis of the Peace in Afghanistan Education Based on The Constitution of the Islamic Republic Period
alishah fayegh Ramazan Barkhordari Alireza mahmmudnia

In the current study, the problem of peace in the education of Afghanistan, based on the official documents of Islamic Republic period has been analyzed. But because the use of language has different complexities and is related to external areas, this study has used the More

In the current study, the problem of peace in the education of Afghanistan, based on the official documents of Islamic Republic period has been analyzed. But because the use of language has different complexities and is related to external areas, this study has used the method of critical discourse analysis according to Fairclough's approach along with considerations of Laclau and Mouffe. The main source of this analysis is the document of The Constitution of Afghanistan in the period of the Islamic Republic. At the same time, other authoritative documents and texts have been used to develop and deepen the analysis. The result obtained from this analysis shows that the official documents do not have a single discourse; rather, they contain various discourses without having a specific central signifier, in the form of a discourse order. The most important discourses identified in these documents consist of "Islamism", "democracy", "racism", and "nationalism", which are formed around the main signifiers of "Islam", "people", "race" and "nation". This multiplicity of discourses causes the construction of the identity of peace in the documents to be composed of various signifiers and multiple and incoherent constructs, that cannot be actualized because of the antagonism involved among these signifiers and constructs, consequently, it does not fulfill peace education. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

30 - Exploration and evaluation of the philosophical foundations of Reggio Emilia's educational theory: a view from the perspective of the Islamic approach of action
narges sajadeh Zahra Saberi

The current research has been carried out with the aim of evaluating the feasibility of benefiting from one of the popular pre-primary educational approaches in the world, by exploration the philosophical foundations of Reggio Emilia educational theory and evaluating it More

The current research has been carried out with the aim of evaluating the feasibility of benefiting from one of the popular pre-primary educational approaches in the world, by exploration the philosophical foundations of Reggio Emilia educational theory and evaluating it based on the Islamic theory of action. In this regard, applying the method of conceptual analysis, linguistic analysis, and regressive logical analysis, we have deduced the basic components of the philosophical foundations of this theory and criticized them based on the Islamic theory of action. One of the results of this research is the inference of twelve philosophical components as the anthropological, epistemological, and axiological foundations of this theory, including the uniqueness and decency of children and the value of their intellectual and practical independence. In addition, the theory of Reggio Emilia has adopted a social constructivist approach to knowledge and has focused on the value of justice and democracy as its governing spirit. The results of evaluation suggest that while the Reggio Emilia educational theory has unique attributes and valuable educational advancements, it is necessary to have a careful scrutiny about it and resolve its challenging aspects before its implementation. Criticisms of this kind entail: taking a reductive approach and oversighting the spiritual essence of the child; an overly simplistic and idealistic portrayal of the child; a lack of clarity regarding realism versus constructivism, alongside potential risks of radical relativism in epistemology; as well as deficiencies in accommodating absolute and conditional values alongside the variable values in the axiological realm. To address these concerns, a reconstructive approach could entail: acknowledging an overlap relation between the spiritual and the physical dimensions, taking a balanced view on the child, positioning realism as a focal point while constructivism orbiting around it, emphasizing both absolute and conditional values, and maintaining a balanced emphasis on rationality and equity in democracy. Manuscript profile

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