A Survey of the Social-Political Dignity of the Clerics and Its Changes During Four Decades of the Islamic Republic of Iran

The purpose of the present study is to review the relationship between the clerics’ life style and their social-political dignity for people during four decades of the Islamic Republic of Iran. To achieve an answer to this question, a theoretical framework based on elitism and historical-empirical sociology was used. The research relies on the hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between the clerics’ lifestyle (autonomy, economic condition, social skills, and self-purification or adherence to piety) and their social-political dignity in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It means that an increase in their reconciliation with power (power dependence), lack or shortage of social skills, and behavioral disorders in line with luxurious life leads to a decrease in their dignity and finally their abandonment. The results of the study indicate that although it can not be said that the dignity of the clergymen in all levels has decreased, it is noticed in at least some levels. Moreover, it can be said that some behavioral disorders in line with luxurious life, resilience with power, and lack or shortage of social skills among the clerics have a high percentage in the prediction of the decrease in their social-political dignity.