Constitutionalism and the Development of Iran's Constitutional Rights in Light of the Ideas and Practices of the Two Parties: Democrat and Moderate Socialists

Sadeghi, Mohamadhossein; Rostami, Vali

doi:10.22034/jrpl.2026.735849

Constitutionalism and the Development of Iran's Constitutional Rights in Light of the Ideas and Practices of the Two Parties: Democrat and Moderate Socialists

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

mohamadhossein sadeghi ¹

vali rostami ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Province, Islamshahr Branch , tehran, iran

² Full Professor, Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran

10.22034/jrpl.2026.735849

Abstract

This paper first elucidates the concept of constitutionalism as a historical movement emphasizing the rule of a written constitution over political customs. Employing a historical-cross-sectional method with respect to the constitutional era, it examines the role of two influential parties—the Democrat Party (with liberal and radical leanings) and the Moderate Socialists Party (with conservative and religious inclinations)—in either reinforcing or undermining this movement. The findings indicate that the fundamental disagreements between these two parties over issues such as the source of legitimacy, the relationship between religion and politics, the system of representation, and partisanship, coupled with the absence of the necessary socio-economic foundations (e.g., an urban middle class and an industrial economy) for constitutionalism, as well as their practical confrontations and recourse to physical elimination, ultimately led to the relative failure of the constitutional movement and the incomplete consolidation of constitutionalism and the development of constitutional rights in Iran.

Keywords

Constitutionalism Movement

Moderate Socialists Party

Democrat Party

Constitutional Rights of the Constitutional Era

Partisan Constitutionalists

Representative System