Discourse Analysis of Democracy in the Political-Jurisprudential Thought of Contemporary Shiite Scholars: Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei, Shahid Beheshti, and Shahid Motahhari

Abstract

The present study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the discourse of democracy in the political-jurisprudential thought of contemporary Shiite scholars. The research method was discourse analysis, and to complement the analysis, limited use was made of some concepts proposed by Laclau and Mouffe, such as the empty signifier, articulation, and hegemonic struggle, as well as some of Fairclough’s tools, including the analysis of vocabulary, metaphors, and intertextuality. Sampling was purposive, and the unit of analysis consisted of discursive propositions found in the scholars’ jurisprudential-political texts; that is, statements and arguments concerning the people, government, legitimacy, law, guardianship, and political participation. The data were collected through documentary and library research, and their analysis was carried out at three levels. To enhance the validity of the study, direct reference to the primary texts, comparison of different viewpoints, and clarification of the analytical process were employed. The findings indicate that the discourse of democracy in the political-jurisprudential thought of contemporary Shiite scholars is an independent, religious, and indigenous discourse that, on the one hand, opposes despotism, concentration of power, and the exclusion of the people, and, on the other hand, demarcates itself from secular democracy and absolute human voluntarism. This discourse seeks to establish a relationship among divine sovereignty, Islamic Sharia, guardianship, justice, and the will of the people. Accordingly, in the thought of the scholars examined, the people are neither merely subjects of the government nor an independent and unconditional source of legitimacy; rather, they constitute a pillar of the realization, continuity, supervision, and efficiency of Islamic government. Therefore, democracy in the thought of Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei, Shahid Beheshti, and Shahid Motahhari is formulated as religious democracy; a model in which religion provides direction and values to the political system, while the people function as the agents of its realization, election, participation, and support. This model demonstrates that contemporary Shiite political jurisprudence has been able, in confronting modern concepts such as democracy, participation, and the right to self-determination, to provide a novel and intra-religious interpretation and to represent it within the theoretical and institutional framework of the Islamic Republic.