Republicanism and Religion: Is Republicanism compatible with the Shiʻa Political Theology?

Abstract

This aim of this research project is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the republican credentials of the political structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran. To this end I have launched an extensive enquiry into the main ancient and modern theories of the republican ideology including detailed surveys of the most prominent literature of the field accompanied by individual enquiries into the conceptual line of argument of the main theoreticians of this school of the political philosophy in order to come up with a basic framework of analysis for any system claiming to be steeped in any levels of the republican credentials.
I have then moved on to evaluate the main theological doctrines of state and sovereignty within Islam with specific reference to the dominant Shiʻa school of the political theology in Iran trying to identify their point of convergence and divergence with respect to the basic republican political discourse.
A detailed constitutional and institutional analysis of the Islamic Republic has also been provided in an attempt to highlight their implications and interactions with regard to the previously identified principles of the republican doctrine of state.
The final chapter of this project scrutinizes the role of the republican citizens and the political provisions in place to empower and protect such fundamental building blocks of the republican state.