The Authoritarian Legacy for a Future Democracy/ Majid Shia’ali

In recent years, experts in various fields have spoken of deeply rooted crises in Iran. Among these are crises stemming from conflict with nature, such as the drying of lakes and rivers and, as a result, land subsidence in various regions to the extent that the habitability of this land is seriously endangered. On one […]...

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Legal Authoritarianism for Social Control/ Nasrollah Lashani

The importance of the constitution in establishing and solidifying democracy is a legacy of the American Revolution. After the victory of the American Revolution and the independence of this country from British monarchy, the revolutionaries emphasized and focused on the drafting and regulation of the constitution, striving to carefully and skillfully design a national covenant […]...

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Censorship as a Preserver of the Old Order: From the Constitutional Revolution to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance/ Mehrdad Naghibi

The policy of censorship and pre-publication review, as the primary deterrent to the advancement of culture, has continued to persist for years by relying on a wide range of available tools, aiding opponents of freedom of expression. Today, the issue of censorship is no longer confined to book publishing and the press; instead, all cultural, […]...

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Unequal Education: A Threat to Democratization in Iran?/ Majid Shia’ali

The Iranian Parliament Research Center recently published a study indicating that nearly 55% of students ranked in the top 3,000 in the national university entrance exam come from the top two economic deciles. The study warns that access to higher education in Iran, both in terms of quantity and quality, is significantly unequal. One major […]...

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The government of “National Unity” and its promises / Majid Shia’ali

Today, a government has come to power in Iran that considers its slogan to be national unity; a slogan that more than two decades ago, the movement for freedom – as part of the opposition to the government inside Iran – demanded through its statements and has been brought up again in political discussions in […]...

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Dr. Sadegh Zibakalam: I hope we don’t say “camel” this time!/ Hooman Askari

Sadeq Zibakalam is one of the academic figures and opinion leaders who, despite his outspoken words, may be best known for his resilience in the political conditions of Iran in recent years. This strength has made him an influential, knowledgeable, and fearless figure in the eyes of his supporters, and a government theorist and, as […]...

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Privacy, threat and limitation/ Hormoz Sharifian

Privacy and personal freedoms are one of the most valuable rights of citizenship that people in most countries around the world have fought hard and sometimes bloody battles to obtain. These are the divine and human rights that God has bestowed upon them. Privacy and personal freedoms are subsets of social freedoms, and true democracy, […]...

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Our culture and its relationship with democracy / Majid Shia Ali

You have probably encountered views that suggest democracy requires cultural prerequisites and that society lacks these prerequisites culturally. To justify this view, various comparisons are made to belittle Iranian society compared to developed countries. From driving in heavy city traffic compared to driving conditions in Northern European countries, to the proposal of a per capita […]...

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Whistleblowing as a tool for bureaucratic accountability/ Judicial Trustee

The goal of this article is to familiarize with the key role and function of whistleblowers in holding the government accountable, especially in appointed and bureaucratic sectors. Whistleblowing by a government employee from within a governmental institution is not only an act in the realm of media and news, but also a crucial element in […]...

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Why can’t they hear our voice? / Majid Shia Ali

In recent years, what has separated our society from serious governance and has led to widespread despair from any political action, is the lack of response from the government to the demands of the majority of our society. During these years, these demands have been expressed in various ways, such as through participation in election […]...

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The prominent role of media in exposing human rights violations / Hermoz Sharifian

From the beginning of the 19th century, when mass media, newspapers, and journalism emerged, all social fields from politics and culture to art and sports were influenced by this amazing phenomenon and found a new path towards progress and, in some cases, reached glory. Politics may have become entangled with journalism more than any other […]...

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Book Introduction: Democracy Against Injustice

The book “Democracy Against Injustice”, written by Freyburz Raeesdana, a writer and economist who recently passed away in Tehran due to illness, is a book that examines the concept of democracy from ancient times to the present. This book, published by Elm Publications in Iran, consists of 264 pages. “Democracy Against Injustice” includes nine articles […]...

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