Social Populism and the Future of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Social welfare for the whole community is the basic tenet of Islamic social justice. In modern Islamic Republic of Iran it is also a strong political appeal, used by the successive Iranian governments. The core of the Islamic Revolution was not only ideological positioning of political Islam, but also the quest for social justice in a country characterized by economic inequality. Effects of the Iran-Iraq War, nepotism and corruption, system of bonyads, and inexperience in governance are basic difficulties of the Islamic Republic, together with social inequalities in urban-rural, women, youth, and ethnic minorities nexus.