Proceedings of The 2nd International Conference on Advanced Research in Social Sciences
Year: 2019
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/2nd.icarss.2019.11.744
The Strength of Family Ties and the Organized State
Parizad Bahardoost, Majid Tavassoli Roknabadi and Mohammadamin Erfanmanesh
ABSTRACT:
This study analyzes the political elite networking by using social network analysis method and techniques. We collected political elite family ties data in the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1979 to 2016. The hypothesis is that Iranian political elites have made cliques and components of political networks by kinship relationship and marriage. The results show that there are 88 political elite family components and groups who are related to each other. Most of the components are small but there are a large component whit 710 members of the political elite who are family with each other. The model of the network is the core-periphery model. Small groups are around in the network and don’t have more political and economic power. These groups gain political power for the short term, but the largest component has many connected clusters and is in the core of the network, while the smallest components are in the peripheral. The largest component is the powerful group in the Islamic Republic of Iran. These elites are composed of religious scholars, religious leaders, commanders of the powers, Islamic Republican leaders, strategic decision makers, militants, and economic activists. They have political, economic, and military power for four decades, so, there is an organized and stable state by marriage and family networking.
Keywords: Iran, Kinship Relationship, Social Network analysis, Political Elite.