Experiences with Deliberation in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

It was in 1999 that Tehran municipal council established neighborhood councils, which are literally ‘associations of trustworthy neighborhood people’ (andpman motamedin mahalát). They are defined as voluntary, cooperative, apolitical and non-governmental associations. Their members are volunteers who are elected every four years by universal suffrage. These uncommon institutions are somewhere between NGOs, local institutions and civic associations. They are consultative bodies that are meant to enforce both deliberation (mosháverat) and participation (moshárekat) among all neighborhood stakeholders. This participatory experience is bewildering when one considers that it is in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Moreover, its top-down creation spontaneously raises many questions. What does mosháverat stand for in the Iranian context? How can we understand the deliberative nature of the neighborhood councils from a non-Western perspective? Are they democratic institutions that enhance citizen participation in the political arena or controlling associations that reinforce the authoritarian political system? More generally, how is this binary perspective relevant?