For the Last Time: Iran is not a Democracy

Apparently there are still a lot of people confused about Iran's political system. Although it looks like a democracy on the surface, it is not a true democracy. The liberal media seems to be doing everything they can (short of outright lying) to try to encourage this illusion.

This chart from the BBC illustrates their complex political system. But notice the red dotted line...that line indicates that the Guardian Council has veto power over who the electorate is allowed to vote for. It would be as if Republicans could arbitrarily deny all non-Republicans the right to run for office.

Wikipedia has a pretty good write-up of the Guardian Council. Here is an excerpt:

All candidates of parliamentary or presidential elections, as well as candidates for the Assembly of Experts, have to be qualified by the Guardian Council in order to run in the election. The Council is accorded "supervision of elections".

The guardian council interprets the term supervision in Article 99 as "approbation supervision" which implies the right for acceptance or rejection of elections legality and candidates competency. This interpretation is in contrast with the idea of "notification supervision" which does not imply the mentioned approval right.

So there is no check on them under Iran's system...if they say you are unfit to run, there is no recourse. Naturally, one could assume that they would probably not allow anyone to run who would potentially limit or remove their power.

Which means they can basically dictate policy just like any other Oligarchy, because only the people who reflect their views will be allowed to even have a chance at being elected.

de·moc·ra·cy di-mok-ruh-si/ –noun, plural -cies

1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme
power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy

Since the People are arbitrarily limited in who they are allowed to vote for, Iran is not a real democracy. It is an oligarchy cloaked in the skin of a democracy.