Comparative Examination of Principles and Origins of Power in Western and Islamic Political Thought

As the most important concept of politics، power is a topic that experts and authors have little consensus on its definition. This lack of consensus has caused the formation of a spectrum of definitions within the framework of different schools and discourses. In order to exit from this conceptual ambiguity and word conflict in scientific researches، different methods have been used such as school typology (structuralism، constructivism، realism، idealism and so on)، comparative method and so on. This research seeks to analyze the conceptual trajectory of power in general in materialist and non-materialist schools. Then it examines the viewpoints of Imam Khomeini and the Supreme Leader and their distinction with other perspectives. The Islamic Revolution of Iran led by Imam Khomeini and after him، the Supreme leader has a emancipative approach that caused their distance from other schools and redefined the concept of power and its applications. This article deals with prominent aspects in the definition of power from the leaders of the Islamic Revolution such as teleology، duty-oriented، anti-injustice approach، just order and so on. Then it expresses their difference with the western approaches.