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STUDENT NOTES - 3

STUDENT NOTES - 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

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STUDENT NOTES - 3

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  1. STUDENT NOTES - 3

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. Baha’i 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

  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. 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

  8. 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 (1997-2005) • 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

  9. CITIZENS, SOCIETY & STATE • Over 60 percent under 30 years old. • among the most politically active in the 57 nations of the Islamic world. • represent one of the greatest long-term threats to the current form of theocratic rule. • biggest bloc involved in the region’s first sustained “people power” movement for democratic change, creating a new political dynamic in the Middle East.

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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 2009. Supported Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in 2013 and won 16% of the vote • Many other minor competitors in presidential and Majles elections

  16. 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%)

  17. 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

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