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255 Pedro Luis Rubio Terés The iranian elites as perceived from their society and… However, the mechanisms of access to power remain fairly similar to those in a capitalist democracy: the capacity for expression is granted to a select group of individuals with great leadership skills and purchasing power. As Berelson indicated, a polycratic democracy does not require the participation or understanding on the part of the average citizen. In fact, it is a usually an undesirable condition, since the absence of it allows the elites to establish agreements with the consent of the masses19. THE NATURE OF THE STATE Is Iran’s inclusion into the set of «modern, representative states» (according to Mosca’s definition 20) for granted? Does it stand as as a hybrid regime between those based on fa-mily transfer of power, and a proper meritocratic governing as foreseen by Saint Simon? The first question has no straight answer. According to Gleason, «dictators-hips call for approval from outer sources instead of their own citizens21,22» Aware of that, foreign governments and multinationals adulate their presidents pursuing substantial contracts, which results in a huge drain of state funds. Modern long-standing states, on the contrary, are mostly concerned only with their internal public opinion, even if they are involved in offshore territorial disputes, such as France or US23. For their part, novel modern states usually present important resemblances. The Is-raeli administration, for instance, justifies severe institutional measures with the need for survival of the Jewish people in a hostile context; the same as the Iranian gover-nment attributes its autocratic character to the need of defending a minority branch 19  See: BERELSON, Bernard; LAZARSFELD, Paul; and McPHEE, William. Voting: a study of opinion formation in a presidential campaign. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954. Even more, according to Schumpeter, «The democratic method produces legislation and administration as by-products of the struggle for political office» (MEDEARIS, J., op. cit., p. 87). 20  Mosca added that this modern state remains as the most successful political organism in terms of coordinating the efforts of a large sum of individuals for a purpose of collective interest. MOSCA, Gaetano. «The democratic tendency and replenishment of ruling class», in The Ruling Class. Elementi di Scienza Politica, London: McGraw-Hill, 1939, p.413. 21  GLEASON, Gregory. «Natural gas and authoritarianism in Turkmenistan». In Overland I.; Kjaernet H.; and Kendali-Taylor A. (Eds.), Caspian Energy politics: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Abingdon: Routledge, 2011, pp. 78-90. 22  GREENBERG, Illan. «Turkmen Leader Proposes Vast Change to Lift Isolation», The New York Times, 2007 Available at: www.nytimes.com/2007/01/05/world/asia/05turkmenistan.html. 23  Actually, modern democracies are characterized by the ability of the people to enforce or penalize governmental decisions when they respond to private interests. Meanwhile, in religious autocracies decisions are allegedly taken in the interest of many, but frequently driven by ‘divine’ reasons of difficult understanding. http://revista.ieee.es

REVISTA IEEE 11
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