The Clergy and Comparing its System after Constitutionalism with its System after Islamic Revolution of Iran

The clergy, as one of the social subsystems of Iran, experienced a mutual influence in its interaction with external milieus. The politicalsocial movement of constitutionalism and Islamic revolution and the influential role of the clergy in these two movements arises the following question: ‘How was the clergy’s structure and functions in these two periods?’ The answer to this question would be useful for the researchers of political sociology in predicting the future changes in the relationship between the clergy and the political system. After the failure of constitutional movement, the clergy attempted to lend cohesion to its own scattering structure, and transfer the religious authority to Iran to approach the center of evolutions. On the other hand, the functions of the clergy reduced. With the Islamic revolution, however, the authoritative and organizational structure of the clergy underwent a great change as well, and its functions broadened.