By Yahya Fozi (Ph.D. Political Science)
The Islamic republic in Iran introduced a new political model named “religious democracy” which is of great importance for those who try to harmonize religion with modern institutions. This new model, in fact, has risen as a certain and independent political philosophy and governance method in the face of modern models. In fact, the idea of “religious democracy” challenges thesis like “End of History”[i] and “End of Ideology”[ii] which regard western democratic systems as the greatest human work and his absolute fate in social-political arena and introduce the modern age as an end to the role of religion and ideology in public parts of human life. This writing tries to answer questions about the theoretical principals of this political model as well as characteristics of religious democracy in post-revolution Iran. To answer such issues we first explore different views about the relationship between religion and democracy as a theoretical debate.
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