The Rule of the Clerics in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Bibliographic Data

ID9755340
AuthorsMarvin Zonis (corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume482
Issue1
Pages85-108
Publication date1985-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0002716285482001006
OpenAlexW2099596047
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited3

Direct rule by Islamic clerics in Iran is an important new phenomenon in Middle Eastern politics. The legitimacy of clerical rule is based on an ideology developed from Shiite thought by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his neofundamentalist followers. This ideology is embodied in the Iranian Constitution, which institutionalizes rule by Islamic clerics. Their sense of legitimacy has been reinforced by Khomeini's commitment to maintaining clerical rule, by his claim to leadership on the basis of a divine calling, and by a monopolization of the interpretation of the sacred law. The principal themes of clerical rule include grandiosity, an insistence on unity, ascription of hostile motives to the actions of other states, a preference for military solutions to political problems, and a belief in ultimate victory. Replication of the Iranian pattern of clerical rule elsewhere in the Middle East will be problematic without the emergence of a figure like Khomeini or the assistance of Iran

Ascription · Constitution · Democracy · Epistemology · Ideology · Interpretation (philosophy · Islam · Legitimacy · Military rule · Political science · Politics · Rule of law · Sociology · Theology · Victory · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions

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