Moderation and Political Equilibrium: Necessities of Moderate Politics in Iran's Contemporary Political Environment

Moderation did not use to play a significant role in contemporary Iran as a major political approach. In addition to that, during the past few years, the domestic and foreign policies were affected by the extremist approaches inside the country. The moderate movements, however, emerged recently as an answer to the increased internal and external issues and they utilized the slogan of moderation during the last general election. This effort was received gladly among various social and political groups in the country and led to the victory of the proponents of moderation in the latest presidential election. Nevertheless, the consistency and durability of moderation in Iran’s contemporary political environment faces many obstacles and challenges. One of these obstacles is lack of equilibrium in political structure that is mostly manifest in the imbalanced relationship between government and society, institutional incompatibility, antagonistic relations between political groups instead of rationality and conversation, and dominance of Clientelism in the political system. An improvement in the equilibrium standards of the political structure and relations is the key for the moderate policies and programs in economic, social, cultural, and foreign relations to be successful. The advocates of moderation can begin the strategic equilibration of the political process with reforms in the management of the executive branch, optimizing the decision-making and policy-making methods, and modifying the political manners of the statesmen. Then, they can strengthen their social and political base through performing détente and conflict resolution policies in foreign affairs, providing prosperity and transparency in the economic sphere, supporting political and cultural expansion, preparing desirable conditions for the oppressed institutions to compel them to be active, and empowering the vulnerable groups. Finally, the moderate administration can utilize an interactive approach in its relations with other political groups and institutions to strengthen the compromise and consensus over macro policies and programs and provide for an improved political equilibrium in the country.