Political Functions of Religious Authority Position from the Constitutional Revolution to the Islamic Revolution

In the absence of effective political parties in the Iranian society from the Constitutional Revolution up to the Islamic Revolution, due to its religious origin and social base in society, the religious authority was able to fulfill some functions of the political parties in the society. Although the political functions of the religious authority in Iran have been raised from its religious origin, they are a prominent aspect from activities of this institution. The techniques of exercising power in the religious authority institution are different from those of the active political institutions in the west; however, in a period of political history of Iran, this institution has been able to perform the functions being performed by political parties in western societies. Although it is not the aim of this paper to reduce the role of religious authority institution to the functions of the parties as well as the functions of this institution are far beyond the political parties, the functions of religious authority institution can be investigated by designing a framework about the parties’ activities in western societies.