Citizens,+Society,+and+the+State

Dong Ju Lee Seb Ritz Jonathan Yu

=Cleavages and Politics (ethnic, racial, class, gender, religious, regional)= > Most religious minorities have their religion protected and have reserved seats in the Iranian parliament (Majlis)
 * Iran consist of diverse ethnic backgrounds which inlucde Persians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Lurs, Arabs, Balochs, Tukmens and Turkic tribes
 * More than 2/3 of Iran's population is under the age of 30
 * Religion in Iran is dominated by the shia bran of Islam, which is the official state religion
 * Iran is also home of one of the largest refugee population in the world with estimated number of refugees over 1million
 * However, the Bahai faith, Iran's largest religious minor, is not officially reconized by the government

=Civil Society and Social Capital=
 * Iranian Revolution in 1979 was caused by a civil resistance that was both secular and religious
 * westernizing monarchy was replaced by a society based on Islam
 * Ideology of the iranian government by the revolution oppose equal rights for women
 * Very strict dress code for women.
 * Women were barred from being judges
 * Many pulbic facilities become sex-segregated
 * The role of the family plays a big role in Iran, as most children grow up in a extended family structure and are very influenced by the decisions of the adults

Very strict dress code for women. media type="youtube" key="sW2oy9c5NiM" height="251" width="448" align="right" =Media roles=
 * almost all media is controlled by Government
 * freedom of speech is very limited
 * censorship is very strong from government to keep bad western influences out
 * more than 80% of iranians get their news from a government owned network
 * recently with the use of the internet Iranians have been able to communicate their beliefs and feelings through websites like facebook and twitter

=Political Participation (forms, modes, trends) including political violence=
 * The consitution set by the Islamic Revolution of 1979 set many cavets to limit the political participation of people
 * Clerics monoplized political power in Iran through legistlation and interpretation of the consittuion
 * Iranian opposition groups have been severely oppressed by the regime
 * Freedom Party of Iran was forbidden from political participation
 * In 2009, there were mass protest due fixed election, where the Ahmadinejad won 62.6% of the vote and the opposition, Mousavi, won 33.8% of the vote
 * There protests were brutally put down

Protested 2009 Elections. =Social Movements= =Citizenship and Representation= The current presidential elections in Iran seems neither about the continuation of reform nor democracy. It is only and only about the survival of a crisis-ridden and unpopular theocratic regime. Under the regime, any political party opposed to the government is banned and their members either executed or persecuted. Furthermore, the government routinely stones, jails, and hangs people for having "illegal' sex" or "morality crimes". Almost all media is controlled by the government and therefore there is virtually no freedom of speech in Iran. Citations [] [] [] [] []
 * There here has been a total regime change movement spearheaded by the Green Party
 * During the last few decades, Iranian women's movement have won equal rights in marriage and divorce
 * They also advocated ban stoning women for infidelity in marriage.
 * Today, the women's right movement in Iran continues to fight for women's humans rights with the One Million Signature Campaign to end discrimination against women
 * In 2006, Iranian government passed a law that offer citizenship to children born to Iranian mothers and non-iranian fathers
 * Women must still obtain permission from the state in order to marry non-Iranians, whereas men can do so and their children, even if they were born out of wedlock, are automatically given Iranian citizenship.
 * Opposition group to the government is not represented in the parliment as the regime crush any official political representation by the reformist movement
 * Analysis**