Electoral Theocracy: A Study of an Islamic Hybrid Regime

Abstract

The literature on Electoral Authoritarianism (EA) explores the hybridity of regimes that take on a democratic appearance while preserving an authoritarian substitute. The scholarship’s main task is to reveal this authoritarian substitute, which is masked by democratic elements. Although urging observers not to be misled by the electoral guises of the new authoritarianism, EA scholars appear to be misled by closed authoritarian guise of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This has led them to overlook the hybrid nature of Iran’s regime, and to exclude this electoral authoritarian regime from their studies. Scrutinizing the Islamic Republic’s political structure, and the lived reality of elections under its clerical rule, this paper intends to introduce Iran as an electoral authoritarian regime. I urge EA scholars to include Iran in their studies.