iran

political culture

set of collectively held attitudes, values, and beliefs about government and politics

political ideology

an individual’s set of beliefs and values about government, politics, and policy

individualism

people hsould be free to make their own decisions and the government cannot restrict that

neoliberalism

economics that are free market and no gov. intervention in the econoy (or limited)

communism

state owns all property and gov. controls economy

socialism

economic equality is a core value, and by having the gov. control the economy, income inequality can be diminised

fascism

nationalist view, rights of the majority, minority is unimportant, authoritarianism

populism

gov puts common people above elites

post materialism

citizens are secure enough to move beyond materialist concerns to quality of life issues like female rights or abortion

civil society

everyone is united over common interests and works together

political cleavages

divisions abt the role of gov. and policies

social cleavages

divisions based on class, money etc.

civil liberties

fundamental rights that the gov. protects

civil rights

actions taken by the gov. to protect from discrimination

informal political participation

protests, civil disobedience, political violence

formal political participation

public demonstration usuallt against the gov.

what is iran’s primary resource? is iran industrial?

oil! most of iran is not fertile for agriculture. iran is very urban and sort of industrial

what is the difference between persian and arab? is iran persion or arab?

persians are primarily from iran

arabs come from the syrian desert

persian and arabic use the same alphabet, but have very different pronunciations

iran is persian

is iran shi’a or sunni? what is the difference?

mostly shi’a, which has created rifts in the culture

iran is one of the only countries that is predominantly shi’a

in shi’a, the leader must be blood related to muhammad. in sunni, it does not matter

who ruled iran from 1794-1925?

the Qajars, which was a turkish group. they made shi’ism the state religion which is how that came to be the predominant religion.

they introduced new democratic policies like elections and a bill of rights

in 1925, they would be overthrown by the reza shah

describe the pahlavi dynasty from 1925-1979

reza shah created a new dynasty. he allied with the nazis, modernized the economy, closed religious schools and prohibited long beards. women did not veil at this time.

in 1941, his son took over, muhammad reza shah. he created authoritarian regime, created military, centralized power, etc. lots of people began to oppose this over time.

white revolution

a revolution under muhammad reza shah. gave cleric land to peasants, extended women’s rights, reduced clerical influence; increased secularism. also gave voting writes to women. crazy big oil boom.

why did the shah fall in 1979

he was restricting freedom, totalitarianism, offended people.

at this time, a charismatic leader (khomeini) was on the rise

eventually, the shah left

the islamic republic is founded

ayatollah khomeini (supreme leader) rose to power. he created a new constution for the new republic.

new (and current) leader

kohmeini eventually passed away, and ali khamenei took his place. continued an anti-american sentiment, maintained theocracy, etc.

list of presidents since 1989

rafsanjani: moderate

khatami: suprise victory, civil society, women’s rights

ahmadinejad: clashed with religious order, torture, sharia law, executions

rouhani: moderate

picture of iranian gov. structure

overview of iran’s gov

what are the rules for the supreme leader (head of state)?

rules for life, apoints head of judiciary, limits presidents, can dismiss presidents

what is the assembly of religious experts?

a group of people voted in for 8 years each BY THE PEOPLE. approved by guardian counsil. authority to appoint supreme leader and monitoring them.

what is the guardian council

small group of men that are lawyers and clerical members. decide who can run in elections, veto legislation

what is the expediency council

appointed by supreme leader, 5 years at a time. includes president, judge, majles, and jurists.

what is the president and what do they do

head of gov. 4 year terms like us, and elected by the people. candidate is approved by guardian council first.

must be shi’a, appoints mayors, selects cabinet, makes budget, etc.

what is the majlis

elected by the people and mostly shi’a. mostly men. members of parliament and pass legislation.

how does the judiciary branch function

modeled off of sharia law, very very strict, large amounts of executions. no idenepdent courts.

conservative vs. reformist

conservative: upholds regime principles, against modernization, wary of the west

reformists: shi’ism is important, less tense with west

mass media in iran

not free speech really, social media restricted, all publications must have licenses from gov.

who is most supportive of the regime? why?

the lower class, because they benefit from iran’s programs. the upper class is much more secular

what is the policy for women in iran

“equality with difference”

women must wear scarves and hijabs. usually favors males

how has financial trouble impacted iran?

iran has struggled to get oil prices back up, and also suffers from high unemployment. people have revolted against the regime because the economy frustrates them