Dal Seung Yu
Abstract
Abstract Brushing aside the development of conceptual elements of Iranian and Chinese cosmologies, as yet we can generally specify their certain identity as a system. The main question is that what kind of relation has there been between political theory and metaphysical foundations in ancient Iran and ...
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Abstract Brushing aside the development of conceptual elements of Iranian and Chinese cosmologies, as yet we can generally specify their certain identity as a system. The main question is that what kind of relation has there been between political theory and metaphysical foundations in ancient Iran and China and how can we conceptualize this relation? Chinese Cosmology In Chinese cosmology, the universe is the kingdom of dynamics, vital force and spiritual theme and its values incline toward the good. The good has its origin in God, being or nature. However, there needs human attempt for its achievement. In one of the first ideas of Chinese cosmology, the universe consists of nine elements. The eighth element includes various signs which elaborate on King’s duties and guides him. The untimely emergence of signs is an alert to king so that he change his behavior. Harmony and balance are the main aspects of Chinese cosmology. This principle implies that all forms of individual life should be considered valuable. The complete fulfillment of our being and of other beings is possible in regard with fairness, justice and unselfishness. This principle implies total equality of all forms of individual life and maintaining its life and dignity in all forms. This means that all of them are entitled to be treated with kindness. Iranian Cosmology There is some form of cosmic circle in Iranian cosmology which involves the conflict of good and evil. This conflict ultimately leads to the conquest of good over evil. In fact, the higher stage of human perfection and is accomplished in Resurrection. The cosmic circle in Iranian cosmology leads to Resurrection and perennial annihilation of evildoers, and the rule of Ashe and the ultimate kingship of Ahura Mazda. In this cosmology, The King is considered the chosen of heavenly gods. The king considered himself as director of gods’ affairs. Therefore, the kings can attempt to set up justice. Also, in Iranian beliefs, there is an interesting parallel between social degrees and cosmological hierarchies. Mitra and Verone were the symbol of religious caste, Indere the symbol of warriors caste, and Nasite the symbol of producers caste. Of course, in old Chinese myths, the system of social configuration had a divine dimension too. In one of old Chinese myths, humans which is composed of yellow clay turn into nobles, and humans which is composed of dust turn into the people. Conclusion The Iranian dualistic thought involves the conception of the promised man and political leader as a authority which is connected with Resurrection. But, Chinese thought is monistic the evil forces don’t have a fundamental status in it. In Chinese wisdom, political leadership belongs to the learned the learned leader doesn’t have an status in Resurrection and final deliverance.
Hossien Salimi
Abstract
Purpose: Since the time that all social phenomena and political interactions of man formed in the framework of new nation-states and social and cultural identities defined in this new framework, notwithstanding much emphasis on the idea of peace and its value and significance, indeed the bloodiest and ...
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Purpose: Since the time that all social phenomena and political interactions of man formed in the framework of new nation-states and social and cultural identities defined in this new framework, notwithstanding much emphasis on the idea of peace and its value and significance, indeed the bloodiest and the most widespread wars of history takes place in this era and by modern nation-states. This paper seeks to answer this fundamental question that, has violence and conflict been an essential element of modern nation-state? Answering this question is important because if violence and conflict in international politics rooted in nature and foundation of modern nation-state then achieving stability and peace is possible only through changing the function of this institution or replacing it with alternative institutions.Design/Methodology/Approach: Method of this research is explanatory. In order to answering this question in the format of a theoretical research, at first classical definitions of concept of nation-state will be discussed; then historical context and basis of formation of nation-state will be elucidated and in the end the fundamental dimensions of violence and conflict in modern nation-state will be discussed in the thought of five great thinkers in this field (Bodin, Hobbs, Rousseau, Hegel and Weber). This is a theoretical research that both attempts to survey classical theories in the field of studies on state and conflict and also historical studies on international relations. Also this research is based on a normative and critical approach regarding mainstream theories and those which defend status quo.Findings: This research concludes that despite of pervasive known ideas and values about peace in modern era, nation-state as a modern institution of political power contains a kind of organized violence which in its classical form reproduces it. In other words widespread violence in contemporary history of humanity somehow rooted in this modern institution. Monopoly in use of force, military power and exerting organized violence in the context of conceptualization of sovereignty alongside not recognizing an upper authority in international level and rejection of ethical commitments in modern culture of international relations as a general norm, made out breaking violent conflicts in the face of sharp conflicts and disagreements inevitable. Therefore it seems that in the course of global upheavals, establishing peace is possible only through fundamental change in the functions of modern state.Originality/Value: Hitherto peace studies have always paid particular attention to the category of state and sovereignty. But through combining theoretical and historical approaches this research presents a new attitude to this category. Also explicit results of this research is that maintaining present conditions of modern institution of nation-state made realization of peace impossible; therefore conclusions of this research can be a new window in literature of peace studies specially in the context of Iranian peace studies.
Mohsen Khalili
Abstract
Purpose: The aim of the present paper with emphasis on the main and original functions of states is showing the supremacy of state in the time of hegemony of the instruments and concepts of cyberspace over the linkage between rulers and obedient; although, the citizens have become more agile and more ...
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Purpose: The aim of the present paper with emphasis on the main and original functions of states is showing the supremacy of state in the time of hegemony of the instruments and concepts of cyberspace over the linkage between rulers and obedient; although, the citizens have become more agile and more aware too. E-government refers to the use by government institutions of information technologies that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other branches of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. As we speak of E- government as an instrument, concept and process, indeed, we have spoken of the continuity of the old phenomenon in response to the new questions of new governing a society. Electronic government is made of the distinguishable distinction between the old and the new definitions and functions of states with these advantages: The use of E- government, as a tool to achieve better government; the use of information and communication technologies in all facets of the operations of a government organization; the continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media. The ultimate goal of the e-government is to be able to offer an increased portfolio of public services to citizens in an efficient and cost effective manner. E-government helps simplify processes and makes government information more easily accessible for public sector agencies and citizens. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper is formed and based on the critical paradigm with the descriptive method for comparison explanation of the new perception of the legitimacy. Findings: The new achievement of this paper is reconfirmation of the classic and original mechanisms of all of states; such as force, enticement, persuasion, compulsion, command, requirement, replacement, dismissal, law and order. But, primary reason of governmentality in the era of the electronic government has changed to a triangle of rightfulness, lawfulness and effectiveness. The intent of original and first reason of statesmanship is the immemorial concept of legitimacy. Now, in the consequence of the new finding of the present paper, it seems that the question (why we ought to obey the government?) is not sufficient and correct. In other words, nowadays the new question (how does state become stable and continuous?) has been more efficient and right. Originality/Value: Cyberspace is an indicative of the new epoch which contains much difference with former period. Some new concepts of the space of politics such as globalization, global village, electronic state, cyberspace, cyber democracy, virtual civil society, have caused to change the operations of states. States, in the newfound of the era of virtualization of politics, use the soft power, such as propaganda, influence, parade, integration, exhibiting, attraction, and mentality making for durability.
Khalil Sardarnia
Abstract
Purpose: The aim of this research is the analysis of internet’s impact on shaping silent revolution in Middle East and then, occurrence of Arab spring in the context of this revolution in framework of Ingelhart theory. By attention to this aim, the author has tried to give quantitative and analytical ...
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Purpose: The aim of this research is the analysis of internet’s impact on shaping silent revolution in Middle East and then, occurrence of Arab spring in the context of this revolution in framework of Ingelhart theory. By attention to this aim, the author has tried to give quantitative and analytical answer to this question: what is the most important factor on shaping of silent revolution in urban and educated youth in the Middle East from 2000s onward? What is the behavioral repercussion of this revolution? Without denying the impact of development in educational system as control variable, the hypothesis in this research is that the increasing of availability and using internet from the second half of 2000s decade onward has been led to shaping of silent revolution in attitude dimension and then, in shaping and intensification of protest actions in cyber and non-cyber sphere and Arab spring at behavioral one. By attention to these socio-political circumstances, The Middle East region has been the focus attention of mass media, analysts and public opinion in the world. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper is formed and based on causal-analytical explanative method and secondary analysis of data by using of attitude-value survey data from regional and world research centers. Findings: The result of this research is that in more than one last decade, internet has been much efficient on the changing of urban and educated youth at value-attitude and behavioral dimensions in Middle East. This change can be named as silent revolution. But this result cannot be verified for illiterate or little literate masses, so we cannot deny the impact of educational system as a field or control variable that has been hypothesized in this research. Findings of this research show that without these value/attitude developments and changes, we couldn’t see the last political protests in this region. Of course, it is so soon that these protests are named as a revolution. But by extension of these changes in value and behavioral dimensions and other requirements in future, probably we will see the development toward to real revolution. At present time in the context of attitude and awareness changing, the urban and educated youth acts as the important actor in socio-political sphere of Middle East. Originality/Value: The silent revolution is an idiom that has been used for changes in socio-political values and beliefs. This revolution can be an introduction or incitement for political protest and socio-political developments. The present research is new due to reasons such as: absence of direct research with this title, application of the theory of silent revolution, using world and regional value survey centers and then, making relation between value and awareness changes and political protests in Middle East and North Africa in the last decade. In this research, it has been tried to test a fulfilled theory in west Europe but now in a different region.
Sajjad Sattari
Abstract
Purpose: With a new approach different from the common theories of the social contract, the writer has tried to propose the necessity and possibility of establishing a Middle Eastern tradition of social contract, especially in hydrocarbonic societies in the Middle East, and describe its nature, possibility ...
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Purpose: With a new approach different from the common theories of the social contract, the writer has tried to propose the necessity and possibility of establishing a Middle Eastern tradition of social contract, especially in hydrocarbonic societies in the Middle East, and describe its nature, possibility and existence.
Methodology: The article has used the Explanative approach
Findings: This study has six main findings: first, social contract in the West was the result of the historical need of individual /society/ bourgeoisie to the absolute state (from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth); but social contract in the Middle East, will be the result of the Middle East’s both quasi-absolute and absolute states’ need to individual / society / bourgeoisie in the Twenty-First Century. Second, in parallel with » developments in commodity«, »movement of Consciousness in the Middle East«, and consequently, » structural transformation of the public sphere in the horizon of these societies«, dominant power elites in the Middle East lose the possibility of complete independence from “individual, society and knowledge/ capital /bourgeoisie technology” everyday and more and more. Thus, the historical equation of “strong states/weak societies” is changed gradually especially in the hydrocarbon societies of the Middle East and “empowering societies/ declining states” are formed along with.
Third, With the historical continuity of this process, at a moment of horizon of Middle East hydrocarbonic societies, a balance of power between state and society is formed and thus, “moment of power compulsion”, “Middle Eastern state of exception” and “exceeding tendency to the birth of subjectivity” have happened in the Middle East. Only at this moment and situation, not out of which, it is possible to move towards gradual establishment of a Middle Eastern type of social contract in these societies. Forth, All societies of the Middle East do not reach the moment of society and state power equality at the same time and alike. Nevertheless, in parallel with approaching this situation and moment, dominant power elites in these societies are faced with the dilemma of choosing “course of the violence, revolution and war” or “peaceful course of social contractualism”. Fifth, Success of new contractualism process depends on two fundamental prerequisite: “violence avoidance of the dominant power elites” and “tradition acceptance of change-seekers social forces” in the moment of power compulsion and Middle Eastern exceptional situation. Sixth, Moving toward the three pillars “new legitimate constitutionalism”, “tax Leviathan” and “responsibility-based constitution orientation” is the most justifiable logic compatible with the Middle Eastern social contract. With these pillars, possibility of occurrence of Middle Eastern social contract is practically better, because it guarantees traditional power benefit and new public will both.
Originality/Value: This study provides new and deep-rooted themes for thought, guidance for political action and a guarantee for benefit of traditional power and public good in the horizon of the Middle East hydrocarbonic societies
Ahmad Golmohammadi
Abstract
Purpose: Identity is a kind of self-understanding in relation to others that is accompanied by judgment and feeling. This concept is of a high importance in social life since it allows people to stand out as a member of the society, especially since we live in a society where concepts of self have an ...
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Purpose: Identity is a kind of self-understanding in relation to others that is accompanied by judgment and feeling. This concept is of a high importance in social life since it allows people to stand out as a member of the society, especially since we live in a society where concepts of self have an impact on our relations with others. Identity is not natural and is constructed socially and historically. Alternatively, identity construction is an integral component of social life. This article aims to describe the relationship between politics, narrative and identity through explaining how the state is the managing construction of identity. As a case for studying such a relationship, the article explains how the Islamic government in Iran manages identity construction through policy-making regarding the publication of stories for teenagers. Moreover, the purpose of this article is to answer a question about constructing an Islamic identity (as a favorite identity for the state and as a mechanism for social control) through stories for teenagers. Thus, the article aims to analyze the content of over 280 stories published by the state-owned institution of Kanoon-e Parvaresh-e Fekri-e Koodakan Va Nojavanan (hereafter referred to as “Kanoon”). Design/Methodology/Approach: Theoretically, this analysis is based upon Stuart Hall’s Representation Theory as well as the cultural studies approach. The representation theory explains how culture (as a complex of systems and subsystems of meanings) is being historically reproduced and cultural studies revolves around the interconnectedness of society, politics, identity and culture. Methodologically, documentary analysis was utilized as a data collection method. Through this method, the researcher investigated the archive of Kanoon, including 285 storybooks for gathering the available data. All the data was collected from titles, cover photos and cover introduction summary of the books. Afterwards, content analysis was used for data analysis. Findings: First of all, analyzing the collected data lead the researcher to the conclusion that constructing an Islamic identity can be realized through accompanying or pairing signs of Muslimhood (or being Muslim) and goodness (or being good) in stories published by Kanoon for teenagers. This pairing can be realized in three levels or units. In other words, the story title, cover photos and cover summaries of every book included pairing signs of being a Muslim and being good (as being acknowledged, beautiful, kind etc). More than 21 percent of all stories that Kanoon has published for teenagers during three decades are instances of such identity construction. During a time span of 30 years (from 1360 to 1390), Kanoon published 285 story books for teenagers, 61 of which contain signs of being a Muslim and being good. But this pairing was realized differently in the units of analysis: 31 title, 34 cover photos and 41 cover summaries contain pairing signs of being a Muslim and being good. As a result, Kanoon can be considered as a platform for identity construction. Originality/Value: Such findings show the capability of representation theory and demonstrate how one can utilize theoretical and methodological properties of cultural studies. Due to the importance of narrative in the construction of teenagers’ identity, the findings of this research have theoretical and practical value. Although there are valuable articles and books on the relationship between politics, identity, narrative and the state, this relationship in the Islamic Republic of Iran has not been the subject of a study.
Mohammad Hossein Ramazani Ghavam Abadi
Abstract
Finally, after much ups and downs of the United Nations, Palestine has been recognized as a "non-member observer state" by the organization. Palestine’s recognition by the United Nations led to its accession to various conventions on human rights and humanitarian law. Rome Statute 1998 – ...
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Finally, after much ups and downs of the United Nations, Palestine has been recognized as a "non-member observer state" by the organization. Palestine’s recognition by the United Nations led to its accession to various conventions on human rights and humanitarian law. Rome Statute 1998 – the constitutive act of the International Criminal Court – was one of the important documents to which Palestine joined while it made a declaration indicating the admission of the jurisdiction of the Court. Palestine’s joinder to this document provided the possibility of prosecution and trial of the perpetrators of crimes committed under the Court's jurisdiction at the Palestinian territory and against its subjests. The Court's prosecutor is making the preliminary examinations and investigations to find out whether there is the Court’s jurisdiction and a reasonable basis in accordance with the articles of the statute in order to initiate the proceedings. The main question of the present research is on the manner of Palestine’s recognition as a state and the effects associated with its joinder to the International Criminal Court. The most imporstant effect of such joinder is the possibility of referring a situation by the state to the ICC. In this essay, an attempt is made to study the results caused by referring a situation to the Court. Israel will face a cooperation demand but we should not be too optimistic about its cooperation.
Faez Dinparasti Saleh
Abstract
he aim of this article is to analyze the fourth, fifth and sixth parliament’s transcripts to show that which kind of public policies of the government has been considered by the legislators. The conceptual framework of Almond, Powell and Mundt is used to determine the policies which were significant ...
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he aim of this article is to analyze the fourth, fifth and sixth parliament’s transcripts to show that which kind of public policies of the government has been considered by the legislators. The conceptual framework of Almond, Powell and Mundt is used to determine the policies which were significant according to parliament members. The content analysis method is used on the representatives’ pre-agenda speeches, their notifications to administration, their inquiries from ministers and interrogation of ministers and at last their proposals of annual budget. The present research shows that despite different majorities in these three parliaments, representatives in each of them focused totally on the governmental aspects and the social issues have not been considered. According to this paper among different policies of government more than three quarters of MPs actions appertain to distributive policies and most of them have been confined to distributive policies at the local level instead of the national level. It means that extractive policies, symbolic policies and also regulative policies have almost been neglected by MPs. In spite of the constitution’s emphasis on the representatives’ task of inquiring into all the national affairs, they have only focused on their own electorate.
saeed mirtorabi
Abstract
Iran’s revolution as a profound social change in which most part of population took part heavily changed the fundamental aspects of political order in the country and helped to set new institutions in power and state structures after revolution. These institutions were helpful in harnessing extreme ...
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Iran’s revolution as a profound social change in which most part of population took part heavily changed the fundamental aspects of political order in the country and helped to set new institutions in power and state structures after revolution. These institutions were helpful in harnessing extreme domestic and foreign crisis that emerged soon after the revolution. Revolutionary elite in Iran in a rather short term between January 1979 and May 1981, succeeded in establishing new political order after revolution. The main claim of the article as its hypothesis is that “Iran revolutionary elite in three years after revolution (as critical juncture) in response to huge crises and necessities of building new order inclined to institution building from the bottom and as a result effective institutions for supporting new political regime and new political order were formed.The article studies making of some new governmental institutions and revolutionary organs and emergence of new political behavior in the first years after revolution and searches the causes of their successful functions in managing crisis and sustaining new emerged political order. The article uses historical institutionalism as its approach and historical-causal analysis as its methodology. The article shows that high capabilities of revolutionary system in managing crises originated from this mode of institution building.
Hamid yahyavi
Abstract
To address the question of the nature of modern state in the contemporary Iran, the present paper seeks to investigate the issue of state in the contemporary Iran in terms of Foucauldian approach and the conceptual apparatus driven from it. In his late intellectual career, Michael Foucault introduced ...
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To address the question of the nature of modern state in the contemporary Iran, the present paper seeks to investigate the issue of state in the contemporary Iran in terms of Foucauldian approach and the conceptual apparatus driven from it. In his late intellectual career, Michael Foucault introduced a new field into the researches on state in which fundamentally the rationalities underpinning / constituting the state are zeroed in on. The present paper hypothesizes that the drawing, organization and articulation of the modern state in Iran were being done by the governmentality of the pastorship prevailing over the tradition system and the rationalities remained out of the episteme belonged to Iranian previous universe, though it was built in the course of modernization process stimulated by Iranians` encounter with some western forms of governance. The present paper maintains that the tenacity of “the pastorship rationalities of the tradition system” and their being strengthened due to combining with some imperfect rationalities driven from modern era – that is, the rationalities oriented to consolidate the state such as “raison d'état” and “police” – lead to the generation of an “instrumental pastorship” equipped with modern technics and apparatus. Thus, it provided grounds for raising a particular political order which the present paper calls “neo-pastorship”. “Neo-pastorship”, thanks to the modern apparatuses, such as the army or the bureaucracy that was developed in the new age, came to more success in interference and carving power on the body of society.
Seyed Mohammad Ali Taghavi
Abstract
Between 2010 and 2013, during what was called the Arab Spring, the Arab world witnessed a wave of popular uprisings that led to the overthrow of four governments (in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen), serious difficulties for three states (in Bahrain, Jordan and to some extent, Saudi Arabia), and a civil ...
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Between 2010 and 2013, during what was called the Arab Spring, the Arab world witnessed a wave of popular uprisings that led to the overthrow of four governments (in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen), serious difficulties for three states (in Bahrain, Jordan and to some extent, Saudi Arabia), and a civil war (in Syria). Other Arab states have seemed to be stable. These different outcomes raise the question of what were the causes of those uprisings, and why were some of them successful, but not others. In order to answer these questions, by employing the systemic model and the historical sociology method the involved factors are explored in six segments, namely, political, economic, social, cultural, military and external. These uprisings show that popular dissent is deep-rooted in the Arab countries, and can come to surface unexpectedly. However, what played the determining role in the collapse of some regimes and survival of the others was the specific composition of short-run factors in each country. Those events show those governments that by their political management attracted the allegiance of a considerable part of their population (even an important minority) and maintained the loyalty of the body of their army survived. When the shock of Bin Ali’s demise subsided, the Arab governments gradually learned from each other how to deal with the crisis caused by the Arab Spring, using various tactics to control their own population and to avoid the formation of an international consensus against them.
Seyed Mohammad Tabatabaei
Abstract
Following the national revolutions which caused the creation of a new formation of state known as nation-state, we have witnessed the practical implementation of Theories of Separation of Powers. Ever since, the functional principles of organizing power in the modern state were based on the new theories ...
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Following the national revolutions which caused the creation of a new formation of state known as nation-state, we have witnessed the practical implementation of Theories of Separation of Powers. Ever since, the functional principles of organizing power in the modern state were based on the new theories about the separation of powers and their different perceptions. As a matter of fact, in order to prevent the centralization of power and to build a better organization of political affairs on the basis of Theory of Separation of Powers, the nation-states tried to the divide political power into three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judicial powers and separate them on the basis of their structures and functions. The present paper will attempt to identify the cause and the extent of remoteness or closeness of the ternary shapes of the combination of powers, relative or complete separation of powers of the known principles of democracy. The basic argument of the present research is based on the point that the true and complete implementation of the principle of “check and balance” among the ternary branches has caused more limitation on the power and constructive interactions; as a result, in a lenient system of the contribution of powers we witness the creation of a kind of “power equation” and “democratic balance” through the relative separation of powers.
Mohammad Taghi Ghezelsofla
Abstract
The emergence of the term of aesthetics in the late eighteenth century was neutral in the sense of pleasure. Since the mid-nineteenth century with Hegel's theory on the “End of Art” and the emergence of ideology and modern art, the relation between elegance and politics has come ...
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The emergence of the term of aesthetics in the late eighteenth century was neutral in the sense of pleasure. Since the mid-nineteenth century with Hegel's theory on the “End of Art” and the emergence of ideology and modern art, the relation between elegance and politics has come to be substantial. This relation also in the first half of the twentieth century in the totalitarian communism and fascist regimes was considerable. In this paper, the fundamental question is how the idea of aesthetic in the politics solidifies the legitimacy and strength of the government.This article tries to review the mechanisms of aesthetics in Fascism that only serves as a control technique by eliminating the solipsism of culture and art theory. In order to ascertain the hypothesis of some elements of fascist aesthetics such as praising the state, aesthetic refinement of violence and technology will be discussed. Research findings show that the objective phenomenon has aided the aesthetic refinement of state power, the strengthening of war and violence, and the support of speed and technology to meet the goals of totality government. In this Paper, we used the theoretical framework of critical aesthetics and the article has been written in descriptive-analytic style.
Kamran Rabiei Rabiei
Abstract
It is safe to say that over the past decade, no region in the world as much as the Middle East and North Africa has been involved with rapid political developments, unrest and instability. The beginning of a cycle of mass protests and instability in the aftermath of the Arab Spring is just one of those ...
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It is safe to say that over the past decade, no region in the world as much as the Middle East and North Africa has been involved with rapid political developments, unrest and instability. The beginning of a cycle of mass protests and instability in the aftermath of the Arab Spring is just one of those cases. The main purpose of the present research is to explain the conditions of the Arab Spring formation. The main question of the present research is what caused the Arab Spring to begin with Tunisia and Egypt? In this research, it is attempted to explain the conditions of development and the beginning of the Arab Spring based on the multilevel and multidimensional approach. The main hypothesis of the study is that there were similarities between Tunisia and Egypt, which caused the Arab Spring to begin from these two countries. In the method, the present study is a case-oriented historical comparative study. The research process has been completed in three phases. In the first stage, the similarities between the two countries of Tunisia and Egypt were extracted. In the second stage, the causal relationship of the similarities extracted between Tunisia and Egypt was described in the form of nine variables, with the conditions of the development and occurrence of the Arab Spring. In the third phase, there was a general explanation of the conditions of the Arab Spring development, and it was shown why the Arab Spring started from Tunisia and Egypt
ali Karimi(maleh)
Abstract
The present theoretical- analytical article aimed at the study of the characteristics of wicked problems & the strategies applied for their management according to the ideas of Rittel and Weber. Based upon some statistical data and secondary analysis method, the article presents some manifestations ...
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The present theoretical- analytical article aimed at the study of the characteristics of wicked problems & the strategies applied for their management according to the ideas of Rittel and Weber. Based upon some statistical data and secondary analysis method, the article presents some manifestations of wicked problems in contemporary Iran. From the pathological standpoint, the main reason for the wickedness of policy problems is stemmed in the historical and continuous gap and persistent cleavage between state and society. Inspired by theoretical approaches presented in the conceptualization section, it sounds that the collaborative strategy is necessary for the wise and successful management of wicked problems. The strategic implication of this statement is the necessity for whole and profound revision of traditional patterns of state-society relations in Iran and its transformation to participatory, deliberative, collaborative, dialogue-based, non-hierarchical, decentralized and citizen-oriented relationships which its fulfillment in turn necessitates the transformation of state’s functions and the nature of the structure of power in one hand and the behavioral change of citizens in the other hand.
Hamdallah Akvani
Abstract
One of the issues that can be studied in the thought of the middle Ages is the perception of Muslim scholars is "the political". Every conception of the political also implies the prescription of a specific type of government pattern. What is the point of view of Muslim scholars on the political and ...
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One of the issues that can be studied in the thought of the middle Ages is the perception of Muslim scholars is "the political". Every conception of the political also implies the prescription of a specific type of government pattern. What is the point of view of Muslim scholars on the political and what has affected the pattern of government is the question in the present research. What is the purpose of this article in the two important approaches of the thought of the Islamic period, namely, the philosophical ethics and the Andarz Nameh writing, which is prominent in the political narrative, and which model of government it emanates from. In the narrative of philosophical ethics, the political means to create an organic and transcendental environment for the continuation of action arising from the inner desire of humans. "Friendship" is the most important part of the achievement of such a community. This narrative leads to the presentation of the state's organic model. In the second narrative, the world of human beings is a permanent controversy. In this situation, the political means the efforts of rulers to maintain power from the struggle of "others"; a struggle that is permanent and endless. The second narrative offers a toolkit for a mechanical state to sustain and expand power.
Mehdi Mirkiaei
Abstract
The critique of the state and ruling elites is an important part of the political life of the masses, but the political action of the descendants in pre-constitutional era, with the exception of the rare cases of rebellion and riots, is reflected in their popular culture. Meanwhile, song is one of the ...
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The critique of the state and ruling elites is an important part of the political life of the masses, but the political action of the descendants in pre-constitutional era, with the exception of the rare cases of rebellion and riots, is reflected in their popular culture. Meanwhile, song is one of the most common genre of folk culture. The masses had to raise their protest or political views with simple or complex camouflages at the community level in order to remain immune from the harassment by the government agents. Oral capacities of folk culture provided them with a simple camouflage, and in sophisticated camouflage, taking advantage of the allegory and password, they created songs that made it possible for them to have both political and harmless readings. The research tries to answer these questions, what was the themes of the political folk songs in the pre-constitution era during the Qajar era, and what methods were used to cover these themes in songs? The premise of the research is that the theme of these songs was mostly based on the negation of the constructive elements of the "public view of government." What is more, the government's covert threat and litigation were the other themes of these songs. The masses used to cover these themes through methods such as subtilized threats, symbolic reversal, the memorial of good natured ruler and naïve king love. The conceptual framework of the research is “Secret narrations” theory of James C. Scott.
Davoud Feirahi
Abstract
Iranshahri is a new version of the old heritage that, despite its traces in the pre-constitutional period, is especially due to the developments in the constitution and the national government. When the National Government (1905) was established in Iran, it led the constitutional leaders to find a "place" ...
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Iranshahri is a new version of the old heritage that, despite its traces in the pre-constitutional period, is especially due to the developments in the constitution and the national government. When the National Government (1905) was established in Iran, it led the constitutional leaders to find a "place" where they could set up tents of this nationality but be safe from the winds and storms. Some of these thinkers saw this "suitable place" in "ancient Iran" and tried to "revive" it. These ideas have had ups and downs so far, and its current expression is tied to the thoughts and works of Professor Seyed Javad Tabatabaei. In this article, while explaining "Iranshahri" according to the latest book of Professor Tabatabaei, some positive and negative aspects of this idea have been examined. In his opinion, Iran was not a part of the Islamic history and world, but also in the area of "Inside Out". The area that although "we have not yet been able to draw its coordinates", is, and we have the "intuition" and recognize. Therefore, an independent theory is required to explain Iran's transformation logic. In this writing, we have tried to investigate this thought and some of its important material
Hossein Shirazi
Abstract
As a concept that has spread from economics to other fields, Regulation refers to sovereign interventions aimed at the realization of the public interest. The present article focuses on the clarification of the concept of regulation in reforming the policy approach to the status of public libraries. ...
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As a concept that has spread from economics to other fields, Regulation refers to sovereign interventions aimed at the realization of the public interest. The present article focuses on the clarification of the concept of regulation in reforming the policy approach to the status of public libraries. The key question of the research is, from a policy-making perspective, in the conceptual bipolar framework of regulation and tenure, what is the relationship between the public libraries institution and the Tehran municipal libraries (which is a larger set of entities)? In this regard, the research has investigated the structural interaction of Tehran Public Libraries and Municipalities with the theoretical framework of institutionalism and qualitative content analysis method. At present, the public libraries institution is a policy maker, an administrator, and a supervisor of public libraries. In such circumstances, such affairs as obtaining a license and the duty of the municipality to pay half of its revenue to public library associations, which of course refuses to pay, has become a serious challenge between the two institutions. This study argues that even if the institution's wishes are met, a larger problem persists, and that the institution's tenure may not give a good prospect of achieving its goals. What the libraries institutions is pursuing is having hundreds of libraries with thousands of executive officer that would then be left out of their policymaking and supervisory duties. The policy-making proposal of the paper is to harmonize the integrated network of national libraries, to define the role and position of policymakers at different levels, and to distinguish the role of policymaking from implementation for public libraries. In this way, the movement of public libraries towards regulation in the role of policymaker and supervisor can serve the intended purpose. In this case, the municipality will play the role of the executor of the institution policies within the framework of the integrated urban services system.
Hassan Ahmadian
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to examine the practical dimensions of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's government experience on the basis of the theoretical foundations of this movement. Through this study, the author seeks to analyze the most important political debates over the one-year rule of the ...
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The purpose of this article is to examine the practical dimensions of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's government experience on the basis of the theoretical foundations of this movement. Through this study, the author seeks to analyze the most important political debates over the one-year rule of the Brotherhood in Egypt and the consequences of its overthrow. In other words, explaining the critiques of the Brotherhood's practical approach and the practical and sometimes theoretical responses of the Brotherhood's government and its supporters are the subject of the article's discussion. As we know, the Muslim Brotherhood failed to achieve the democratic transition in Egypt, and its governmental experience led to the Egyptian democratic retreat. The twofold question of the paper is how the practical foundations of the Brotherhood's rule had its effect on its overthrow and what the consequences of this transformation would have on the Brotherhood movement as well as on Egyptian civil rule. In response, it is argued that the failure of pivotal principle of the Brotherhood model of rule, that is balancing, in the chaotic Egyptian environment led to its overthrow; The consequence of this overthrow, in addition to promoting the Brotherhood's pragmatism and increasing divisions, is spreading extremism and the difficulty of Brotherhood's return to power, which overall makes political reconciliation more difficult. Accordingly, the author, in a deductive process, relying on library data, has attempted to follow the process of change in the cause and effect of the research, explaining the reasons for the Brotherhood's functioning in government and its overthrow on the basis of its theory. The time frame of the article would be the Brotherhood's reign until the July 2013 coup and includes references to the aftermath.
Seyed Ali Mahmoudi
Abstract
Civil disobedience in John Rawls’ theory of justice is protesting actions of citizens against some unjust laws and policy making in a democratic governments. The objective of such actions is reform and change on the basis of a constitution through rational and peaceful manners. Rawls relied on civil ...
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Civil disobedience in John Rawls’ theory of justice is protesting actions of citizens against some unjust laws and policy making in a democratic governments. The objective of such actions is reform and change on the basis of a constitution through rational and peaceful manners. Rawls relied on civil disobedience on the philosophical and moral foundation and, while justifying it on the basis of two principles of justice, discusses the role of this non-violent civil action. In his assessment, civil disobedience is justifiable as a legal and moral action, for this treatment confronts unjust, no efficient other lawful acts, and acceptance of some inevitable limitations. It is forming on the basis of expansion of liberties, rationality, and overlapping consensus. Hence Civil disobedience is a democratic movement and its objective is reform of some laws and structures; therefore it cannot be considered as militant actions. This research uses conceptual analysis and critical evaluation based upon analytic philosophy to explain and criticize the issue of civil disobedience in Rawls political philosophy. The outcome of this study is that Rawls’ thoughts as a means of defining and explaining the philosophical and ethical principles, as well as the precise drawing of civil disobedience boundaries from militant practices have the rational consistency and theoretical strength. Against this observation, his objective guidance and action in this regard are in some cases subject to ambiguities and shortcomings. Rawls does not follow a same method regarding such guidance.
Ahmad Ghiasvand
Abstract
Today, the spread coronavirus in Iran and around the world has become a social issue and in turn has revealed the position, function and importance of the institution of states. This article aims to sociologically analyze public trust in government performance in the situation of the corona outbreak ...
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Today, the spread coronavirus in Iran and around the world has become a social issue and in turn has revealed the position, function and importance of the institution of states. This article aims to sociologically analyze public trust in government performance in the situation of the corona outbreak using the theories of Sztompka and Bernad Barber. The research method is "survey" and its statistical population consists of people above 15 years old in Iran in 2020. The sample size of the research was estimated to be 1600 people using Cochran's formula and the sampling method is "multi-stage sampling". Findings show that people's trust in the state in preventing the coronavirus stems from behaviors and instrumental expectations towards the political system as well as the value component of trust around the country's health system. Specifically, the people's trust in the political system, which is an instrumental trust, is of the "basic trust" type; In contrast, trust in medical and health system, which is based on moral expectations as well as value trust, has increased greatly. Also, in the study of public trust in government performance, it was found out that the trust mechanism consists of components of both types of trust; In other words, when people interact and cooperate with the government, they gradually observe individual and collective health behaviors and criticize less. This, in turn, provides the opportunity for people’s cooperation.
Asghar Keivan Hosseini
Abstract
In the field of State Studies, power has usually been considered on the basis of coercion and special attention has been paid to deterministic mechanisms. As a contemplative indicator, a search for the concept of power on the Internet reveals how it relates to other coercive concepts such as domination, ...
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In the field of State Studies, power has usually been considered on the basis of coercion and special attention has been paid to deterministic mechanisms. As a contemplative indicator, a search for the concept of power on the Internet reveals how it relates to other coercive concepts such as domination, supremacy, pressure, and force. In this article, while pointing to the consequences of the mentioned limiting model, the main purpose is to reflect on the context of changing attitudes toward the deterministic foundation of power and in this regard, we try to insist on the consequences of the concept of "audience reception" in the context of Power Studies. On this basis, thinking about government power based on the issue of reception has led to the concept of power being considered clustered and complex, and caused it to have the characteristics such as "normative desirability and metamaterial function", "communicative nature", "integrative and expanding social integration", "model-maker and cultural prioritizer", "interrelated with knowledge", "sensitive to independence and interdependence" and "rejection of economism with the acceptance of the legitimacy of the social system". The research method is descriptive-explanatory and the main finding is that explaining how the element of satisfaction plays a role in power (government) studies can be considered as a basis and introduction to "cognitive transformation" in this field; A decisive development that brings a new horizon to the field of thinking about invisibility or soft-power in the field of coercive mechanisms of government power.
Mitra Rah Nejat
Abstract
Economic diplomacy, using relations and influence to improve international trade and investment, covers a wide range of international representatives, domestic institutions, as well as bilateral diplomatic activities. Economic regionalism is the result of dynamic economic diplomatic interactions that ...
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Economic diplomacy, using relations and influence to improve international trade and investment, covers a wide range of international representatives, domestic institutions, as well as bilateral diplomatic activities. Economic regionalism is the result of dynamic economic diplomatic interactions that can take shape in the form of a regional organization. The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is the only major regional organization to which Iran is a founding member, and sometimes manifests three specific features of the 11th government's foreign policy: developmentalism, regionalism, and internationalism. Now the question arises that what are the factors affecting the inefficiency of Iran's economic diplomacy in the ECO organization in advancing the economic regionalism policy of the 11th government? The main hypothesis is that in spite of the great potential in ECO, intra-structural problems, parallel work and overlapping of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with other institutions have been the cause of inefficiency and inability of this ministry to advance the policy of economic regionalism of the 11th government. The data of this article have been obtained by documentary-archival method and estimated using Eviews software. The analysis of the results obtained by interviewing Iranian diplomatic elites has been analyzed and explained.
Sattar Azizi
Abstract
Decolonization, as a form of establishing sovereign states, is one of the important phenomena of the twentieth century, although its roots can be traced back to the nineteenth century. The increase in the number of UN member states from 51 in 1945 to 149 in 1984 was largely due to decolonization. While ...
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Decolonization, as a form of establishing sovereign states, is one of the important phenomena of the twentieth century, although its roots can be traced back to the nineteenth century. The increase in the number of UN member states from 51 in 1945 to 149 in 1984 was largely due to decolonization. While colonizers would refer to colonies as part of their own territories and refuse to grant them independence for a long time, from the late 1950s, the UN began to take important measures to accelerate the process of decolonization. This led to the adoption of UN resolution 1514 of December 1960, which recognized the right to self-determination of colonies as a binding rule in the international legal system. The main question of this article is, what processes transformed decolonization from a political ideal into a legal norm? As descriptive research, the present study used library and Internet resources. The analysis of the decolonization process shows that despite the resistance of colonizing states and the failure to include the right of colonies to attain independence in the UN Charter, the right to self-determination of colonies has become an imperative rule in international law owing to liberation movements as well as the support from socialist and the Third World states in the UN General Assembly. As a result, decolonization has been considered one of the most important ways of establishing new states in the international arena.
