Iran Political Economy of an Islamic State

Abstract

INTRODUCTION
Political and economic developments in the post revolutionary Iran
present a special dilemma to outside observers in general and to social
scientists in particular as many developments do not seem to fit theusual
political and economic categories with which the social scientists are
normally familiar. As a result, most analysts of contemporary Iran,
approaching the reality from the rigidly preconceived conceptual lenses,
tend to grossly distort the actual picture. The contemporary situation in
Iran is usually portrayed as one of utter chaos and turmoil with little or
no hope for any progress in the future. It is seen as ruled by “emptyheadkid”,
“conservative”, “brutal,” and “incompetent” mullahs who are
bent upon destroying any signs of progress and civilization. Even
the moderate analysts who seem to be less preoccupied with their biases
and more cognizant of the new realities, appear to dismiss any long-term
consequences of the current changes taking place in contemporary Iran.
My major objective in the following pages is to develop an alternative
image of the same reality. I argue here that slowly and gradually, a new
political and economic order is emerging in Iran, whose broad objectives
and outlines are clear. A major distinguishing characteristic of this
order is its public welfarist orientation with special attention to the
lower-middle and lower classes. And this order has the potential of so
fundamentally transforming the political scene in Iran in the long run
where the old issues and the old actors are most likely to be irrelevant to
the new type of politics. Once successful, the political implications of this
order will have a much wider effect on the Muslim world than commonly
assumed.
This paper has four sections. The first section deals with the ideology of
the Islamic republic. Examining the ideas of the leading revolutionary
thinkers, we shall try to establish a criteria against which the regime’s
political and economic performance is to be assessed. The second section
of the paper describes the nature of key political and economic
institutions established in the aftermath of the revolution and their mode
of functioning. The third part of the paper is concerned with the
economic performance of the regime over the past five years. We shall
assess its performance in two ways: (a) in light of the criteria established
in the first part of the paper and (b) a brief comparison of the Islamic
Republic’s five year performance with the prerevolutionary Iran’s last
five-year plan (1973-1978). The final section of the paper summarizes the
major conclusions of this study and also attempts to project a likely
future scenario ...