Theorizing the Crisis of Partisanship in Iran: Rereading Shahid Beheshti's Thought with Spriggans' Model

Despite the constitutional recognition of party freedom and the revolutionary emphasis on collective participation, partisanship in the Islamic Republic of Iran faces a paradoxical reality. The political landscape reveals a chronic crisis marked by institutional weakness, inefficiency, and the lack of a stable social base for political parties. The persistent failure of political parties to become effective pillars of political development prompted this study to systematically analyze the thought of Ayatollah Beheshti, one of the principal architects of the Islamic Republic. Using a qualitative approach and thematic analysis, his political thought is examined through the theoretical lens of Thomas Spragens' “crisis framework.” Findings indicate that, in Beheshti’s view, the roots of Iran’s partisanship crisis lie in multifaceted causes such as structural deficiencies, the persistence of autocratic traditions, the absence of participatory political culture, and parties’ dependence on power. In contrast, Beheshti’s ideal model of a party is one that is independent, popular, accountable, and committed to Islamic values, functioning as a mediator between society and the state. The main contribution of this research lies in theorizing Beheshti’s perspective and proposing a native analytical model to better understand and address the crisis of partisanship—an area previously underexplored. Ultimately, the study argues that overcoming this crisis requires structural reform, functional redefinition of parties, and the institutionalization of conscious political participation based on the proposed model.



Keywords: Ayatollah Beheshti, partisanship, religious democracy, Spragens’ theory, political participation.