Constitutional Economics under an Official Thought to be Divinely Guided: Implication on Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Constitutional economics is an interdisciplinary subject of constitutionalism and economics where political government tries to constitutionalize the economic activities within the state. Although, every political government tries to deal with all the economic aspects during constitutional engineering but, in theocratic states, the supreme religious institution performs the respective task because of having an official thought to be divinely guided. This study comprehensively describes the concept of Vilayat-e-Faqih (introduced by the Imam Khomeni) in Iran, by which, the entire political system including the economic and financial affairs of Iran has become the subjects of Supreme Leader and his Guardian Council. Similarly, articles 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 31 of the Iranian constitution emphasize upon economic rights of the nation in general. On the other hand, articles 43, 44, 45, 46, 47 and 48 of the constitution define Iranian economic infrastructure, which is comprised of state, corporate and private sectors.At the same time, articles from 100 to 106 of the constitution focus on the power and authorities of“the councils” at the town, city, district and provincial levels. Moreover,this study also provides constitutional economic analysis of article 05, articles 107 to 112, article 150,and article 176 that exhibits hegemony of Supreme Leader (in consultation with Guardian Council and Revolutionary Guards)regarding looking after, controlling and directing all the economic activities within the state. Furthermore, the study also investigates how and why each constitutional provision is the subject of the post of Supreme Leader (also called Vilayat-e-Faqīh; considered to be divinely guided).