The Strategy of Approbatory Supervision and Re-examining the Nature of the Guardian Council's Electoral Oversight

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran.

2 M.A. in Public Law, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Elections represent the most legitimate means of expressing the people's will. The manifestation of political tendencies in elections, engenders competition among multiple factions and groups, and any harm inflicted upon the electoral process inevitably compromises its outcomes. Consequently, "electoral oversight" emerges as an undeniable strategic necessity. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, this critical responsibility is vested in the Guardian Council. Numerous perspectives have been advanced regarding the nature of the Council's electoral supervision: "exploratory supervision," "approbatory supervision," "disciplinary supervision," and "electoral supervision." This study examines the theoretical foundations of doubts raised concerning the guardianship-based (vilāyī) nature of electoral oversight. Employing a descriptive methodology and qualitative content analysis, the research seeks to answer the question: "Can guardianship supervision - previously conceptualized as oversight of political power in the Islamic system - be extended to electoral supervision in the Islamic Republic?" The study's hypothesis and final conclusions indicate that despite existing arguments supporting guardianship supervision, specifically regarding electoral oversight in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the theory of guardianship supervision cannot be substantiated, while the existing evidence confirms approbatory supervision as the strategic oversight model.   

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