Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
2 PhD, Department of Political Science (Iranian Issues), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction
In the contemporary era, Iran society has not had stable and continuous conditions in terms of stability between the government and the society, and after the establishment of a government with new conditions, after a short period of time, various factors, including social dissatisfaction and potential and power in the society, it has changed the situation.
Regarding the new government formed in 1979 and in the last four decades in Iran, not much research has been done to examine the conditions of the society and government and the path of social revolutions as well as how the government responds to social demands. Therefore, research in this field seems necessary. In the current research, considering this necessity, the conditions of the society and the government in Iran in the last four decades are examined. For this purpose, the revolution 0f 1979 has been taken as a point of time and the factors of unity in the early years of the revolution have been discussed. Then, according to the divergence between the government and the society in the following periods, the factors of divergence have been investigated.
Material and methods
During the time period in question, one of these two elements has moved towards conservatism and stability, preferring the existing conditions, while the other, on the contrary, has been interested in dynamism and entering the new world. This basis of transformation and stagnation will be analyzed and examined in the framework of the dialectic theory of understanding: dialectic is a process based on which the phenomenon always has transformation and dynamics. There is a condition in the current phenomenon that changes over time, and this change can include awareness. In one place, the processes continue to change and evolve and in another place, they go to stop and stand still.
Results and discussion
In the present study, the research method is based on the retrospective post-event approach (E-Post facto) in which the cause and affect are investigated after the occurrence. In other words, we understand its causes and variables from the effect.
The purpose of this research is to investigate the convergence and divergence of government and society in Iran in the last four decades. To achieve this purpose, the conditions of the government and society and the effective variables in the evolution of the society and the government during the considered time process have been discussed. The government and society in Iran have had two periods since 1979 until now: The period of unity and the period of conflict. The most important factor in this context is time, and during the time process, it is from the beginning of the new turning point that it is possible to analyze and explain the initial entanglement of the government and society in relation to the conditions, and based on the time process and the formation of developments during this over time and based on the accumulation of social issues and demands and the government failure to resolve them, the situation between the society and the government tended to diverge
The main question is, what was the relationship between the view of Iranian government and society after the revolution, regarding domestic and foreign policy, and how has this view changed. The answer to this question after examining the state of society and the government in the last four decades, is that in the early period of the revolution, which we call the period of unity, based on factors such as the revolution itself, as well as the war and the existence of rent resources, between the political system and the society. There has been unity and convergence; But along the way, gradually, a divergence between these two was formed and finally a conflict has emerged. This contradiction has been proven by referring to valid survey statistics and the example of these statistics can be referred to base on people’s opinion about trust in political elites conducted by the Iranian student’s opinion survey center 2005.
Conclusion
In this survey, the overall level of trust in the officials’ is 21%, which is an important indicator in the difference between the society and government. On the other hand, based on the time process and issues formed after this consultation, the situation has intensified the divergence process. One of the important factors and signs in the dynamics of society can be considered its support for freedom, as well as the media, which are the main support of freedom. Therefore, the indicator of supporting the freedom of the media in the prevailing culture and conditions of a society can be considered as a sign of the dynamism and transformation of that society. According to the survey research of the opinion polling center, in 2005, students agreed with four items based on freedom and minimal government interference in media, with a high percentage of them agreeing with this item
Therefore, the most important factors and determinants that moved the situation between the society and the government towards divergence are the international system, social awareness and internal and external policies, which have been examined in detail.
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