A Comparative Study of the Principle of Government Accountability in the Thoughts of Shaheed Sadr and Ayatollah Khamenei

Political-legal theories about government are mostly based on fundamental principles, which shape the content, form and structure of the state. Meanwhile, principles that are legal in nature of are somehow associated with legal rights have a great influence on good governance. In this paper, the legal principle of "government accountability" as conceived in the thoughts of Shaheed Sadr and Ayatollah Khamenei will be examined. The paper is based on two  assumptions. Firstly, government accountability is a universally accepted rational truth. Secondly, both thinkers share a similar viewpoint about the accountability principle as they are influenced by the same sources. However, their views differ on how the principle should be implemented. Their differences are more related to the realities of their lifetimes, rather than intellectual and theoretical basis.