Institutional reforms of the government from the perspective of Thaqa-ul-Islam Tabrizi (with reliance on institutionalism)

During the Qajar era, some scholars pointed out the reasons for poverty in Iran, and some research was also done on approaches to solve economic problems. Thaqa-ul-Islam Tabrizi was one of the clerics who spoke out during the Constitutional Movement in the form of letters, treatises and political-economic articles, proposing solutions to overcome the obstacles to Iran's economic development. In this essay, the reflections of this cleric on the economic issues of the Qajar era will be examined on the basis of institutionalism, using a historical approach of analysis and interpretation. Although the theory of institutionalism had not yet emerged and reforms such as the development and expansion of human resources were not planned in the period under discussion and the ideas expressed by Thaqa-ul-Islam are considered as a retrospective of this theory, it seems that the thoughts of this cleric can be explained with the components of this theory. Since the institutionalists view the economy as nothing more than the transaction of property parcels and see institutions as facilitators of this exchange, a picture of efficient government and Thaqa-ul-Islam's approach to achieving this goal was first drawn. It then examined the role of the government as the largest institution in creating a legal system that supports property and its role in legislating and monitoring the law. Finally, the relevant laws to improve the quality of human resources through education, budget, taxation, liquidity volume, the National Bank, customs, roads, agriculture, trade and industry were reviewed. The result of this study is that Thaqa-ul-Islam considers the government as the greatest institution and useful institutions can be authorised and supervised through an amendment in the form of the constitution in the form of laws. Economic reforms would have been accessible through these institutions. Secondly, in his opinion, an efficient judiciary belonged in the constitution to guarantee the principle of property and facilitate investment.