Islamic Jurists in Political Capacity: a Comparison between legalist and political approaches in Islamic Governance

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran a great number of Islamic jurists entered the political scene, an event which made Iranian politics to a great extent under a legalist approach. Considering the structure of law and the way jurists look at reality, they have a different type of personality from other politicians. Using the ideal type method, this article attempts to study Islamic jurists’ personality and their specifications in their worldview, methods and resources. As other studies teach us, this type of personality can impact on their political approach and behavior. It is generally concluded that once Islamic jurists enter politics, they are relatively more definite and more decisive, less compromising, more conservative, more duty-based, more predictable, more technicalist and finally more literalist.