The Framework of Government-Citizen Relationship in Iran: An Institutional Approach

Given the importance of the relationship between government and people as one of the key issues in political discourse, and the shortage of relevant theoretical studies and research in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the purpose of this study is to develop a model of the relationship between government and people in Iran with an institutional approach. This research has been carried out using qualitative Grounded Theory method. The statistical population includes the experts who have practical knowledge and experience in the fields of public law and political structure of the government. These experts were selected using snowball sampling method and the data were analyzed using Atlas software. Content analysis of the interviews resulted in introduction of "religious democracy" as the central issue of the relationship between the government and the people, which includes the main dimensions of benefits for the people, authoritarianism, divine rule and supervision and guidance. Besides, causative, mediating and moderating elements were identified and the final framework was developed. The findings showed that the ideological thinking of the statesmen, moderation, constitutional commitment, and domination of the rulers are the factors influencing the relationship between government and people. In addition, the type of the relationship between government and people can lead to consequences such as public trust, public satisfaction, legitimacy and social cleavage. Establishing a relationship between government and people based on the constitutional institution has positive effects such as satisfaction and public trust, and increases the legitimacy of the government among the people and provides the basis for the removal of the social cleavage.