Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Faculty of Social sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The issue of underdevelopment in Iran has always been accompanied by a paradoxical phenomenon. On the one hand, there was a general agreement on the necessity of development to achieve social welfare and well-being, and on the other hand, there was no theoretical and political consensus on the path to its realization. In this article, relying on modern ideas in explaining underdevelopment that consider inequality to be the most important factor in the failure to realize development, the category of power imbalance between the people and the government was considered the most important factor in intensifying inequalities. Based on the institutionalist approach and using the combined theoretical model of North, Fukuyama, and Acemoglu, the role of the balance of power between the superiors and the inferiors in reproducing or containing unjustified inequalities in Iran was examined. The research findings showed that inequality in the distribution of power, wealth, and status was the result of the lack or weakness of a stable balance in the relations between the state and the nation, and the further away from unified governance, the less inequalities were achieved. Finally, the article emphasized that moving beyond the status quo and toward development requires institutional restructuring and the creation of a constrained Leviathan that is simultaneously capable of enforcement, and pursues the rule of law and democratic accountability; something that is only possible through creating a balance between the state and civil society in the form of a strong state, a strong nation.
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