PSC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei, Guardian Council

• School: GWU
• Department: Political Science
• Course: PSC 1001
• Professor: Morgan Kimberly

Document Summary

Iran has become a land of myriad contra- dictions. Personified by the dour, aged faces of its autocratic rulers. There are more public hangings per capita than anywhere else in the world. Misogynist laws deny women equal rights and status: yet (cid:271)ehi(cid:374)d the (cid:373)irthless fa(cid:272)e of the regi(cid:373)e pulsates a . A (cid:449)o(cid:373)e(cid:374)"s (cid:373)o(cid:448)e(cid:373)e(cid:374)t as i(cid:373)pressi(cid:448)e i(cid:374) its rea(cid:272)h. The 1979 re(cid:448)olutio(cid:374) (cid:449)as the (cid:373)ost (cid:862)popular(cid:863) re(cid:448)olutio(cid:374) i(cid:374) (cid:373)odern times: almost 11 percent of the population participated in it led by ayatollah ruhollah khomeini. Had denigrated the notion of popular sovereignty as a colonial construct meant to undermine the islamic concept of umma (or spiritual community) The will of the people is subservient to the dictates of the divine. Assembly of experts: a popularly elected body of theologians: kha(cid:373)e(cid:374)ei"s supporters (cid:374)o(cid:449) openly dismiss the supervisory role of the assembly. Clai(cid:373) that the (cid:271)ody"s (cid:862)ele(cid:272)ted(cid:863) (cid:373)e(cid:373)(cid:271)ers are as duty-bound to follow the wishes of the supreme leader as everyone else.