"Requirements of a Jurisprudential-Legal Approach to Post-Electoral Compensation for Non-fulfillment or Violation of Electoral Promises."

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Professor, Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Theology, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Democracy is intrinsically linked to the phenomenon of elections, the right to self-determination, and the political participation of the people. In this context, electoral promises made by candidates and parties during election campaigns can, despite potentially facilitating the exercise of voting rights appropriately, violate the right of voters to participate and determine their fate due to the lack of oversight over the promises made or the feasibility of their realization. In this descriptive-analytical study, using comparative legal methods, the issue at hand is whether, in the absence of an appropriate pre-electoral oversight structure over candidates' promises in Iran's legal system, legal and judicial responsibility can be attributed for the non-fulfillment of these promises (as a post-electoral approach). Undoubtedly, the answer to this question is illuminated by the considerations and requirements that this writing seeks to express, ultimately leading to the possibility or impossibility of legal action regarding the violation of electoral promises. The conclusion is that in designing an appropriate response, attention must be paid to political legitimacy theories, as well as principles such as: the necessity of distinguishing contractual responsibility from tortious responsibility, adopting a fuzzy approach in explaining responsibility, the need to separate "promise to act" from "promise of result," maximizing compensation for the effects of violations, and the necessity of proving a "causal relationship" between the promise and the vote. The difficulty in realizing these criteria and the subjective nature of some of them pose serious challenges to the possibility of legal action against the violation of electoral promises.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

References
Books
Althaus, S. (2003). Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics: Opinion Surveys and the Will of the People. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Barhani, Y. (1984). Al-ḥadāʾīq al-nāẓirah. Qom: Islamic Publications Office.
Basij organization of lawyers. (2016). Analytical examination of election promises from the perspective of jurisprudence, law and political ethics. Tehran: Basij Organization of Lawyers, accessible at:
Diamond L .(1998). Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation. Baltimore. MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Downs, A. (1957). An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper.
Emami, H. (1340). Hoghoogh Madani. Tehran: Islamic bookstore. (in Persian)
Fiorina, M. (1981). Retrospective Voting in American National Elections, New Haven. CT: Yale University Press.
Furmston, M. P.; Cheshire, Geoffrey; Simpson, Alfred; Fifoot, Cecil. (2006). Cheshire, Fifoot and Furmston's Law of Contract. England: Oxford University Press
Gidengil, E, & André B., & Neil Ne and Nadeau R. (2004). Citizens, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
Gorji, A. (1986). Maghalate Hoghooghi. Tehran: Ministry of Islamic Guidance. (In Persian)
ǧūharī, A. (1989). Al-ṣwiḥāḥ- tāǧ al-lwuġaẗ ū ṣiḥāḥ al-ʿarabīaẗ. bīrūt: dār al-ʿilm lilmalāyin.
ḥakīm, m. (1991). al-ḥukm al-islāmī baīn al-nwaẓariywaẗ wa al-twaṭbiq. qm: muʾsisah al-manār.
Hardin R. (2002). Trust and Trustworthiness. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Hooker, B. (2011). Promises and Rule-Consequentialism, in Promises and Agreements: Philosophical Essays. Oxford University Press.
https://basijlaw.ir/sites/default/files/wdh_hy_ntkhbty-end_0.pdf
Ibn‌‌ manẓūr, M. (1993). lisān al-ʿarab. bīrūt: dār ṣādir.
Imam Khomeini, R. (2000). Al-Bay's Kitāb. Tehran: Institute for Editing and Publishing the Works of Imam Khomeini.
Klir, G. J. and Yuan  B . (1996), Fuzzy Sets, Fuzzy Logic, and Fuzzy Systems: Singapore.
Kuklinski, J, and Paul J. Q. (2000). Reconsidering the Rational Public: Cognition, Heuristics, and Mass Opinion. In Elements of Reason: Cognition, Choice and the Bounds of Rationality, eds. Arthur Lupia, Matthew D. McCubbins, and Samuel L. Popkin. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lenz, Gabriel S. (2013). Follow the Leader? How Voters Respond to Politicians’ Policies and Performance. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Makārim šiyrāziy, N. (1990). ālqawāʿid ālfiqh. Qom: School of Imam Amir ul-Momineen.
Manin, B. (1997). The Principles of Representative Government. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Milner, H. (2001), Civic Literacy: How Informed Citizens Make Democracy Work. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.
Nadeau, R., and Giasson, T. (2009). “Canada’s Democratic Malaise: Are the Media to Blame?” Choices: Strengthening Canadian Democracy 9, Montréal: Institute for Research on Public Policy.
Narāqī, M (1996). ʿawāʾīd ālʾaywuām fī baīāni ālʾaḥkām, Qom: ،Tablīġāt islāmī.
Naurin, E. (2011). Election Promises, Party Behaviour and Voter Perceptions. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Owens, D. (2012). Shaping the Normative Landscape. Oxford University Press.
Pétry, F. (2012). “Les partis tiennent-ils leurs promesses?” In R. Pelletier (ed.). Les partis politiques québécois dans la tourmente. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.
qurʾān
Qurīšī, ʿA. (1991). Qāmūs qurʾān. thrān: dār al-ʿilm
Rallings, C. (1987). The Influence of Election Programmes: Britain and Canada 1945–1979. In: Budge I, Robertson D and Hearl D (eds) Ideology, Strategy and Party Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.
Safai, H. (2007). Comparative civil rights. Tehran: Mizan.
Safai, H. (2013). Civil liability requirements outside of contracts. Tehran: Samt.
Shahidi, M. (1998). Civil rights, formation of contracts and obligations. Tehran: hoquqdan Publishing House.
šhīd ṯānī, Z. (1989). Al-rūḍah al-bahīiẗ. Qom: dār al-kutub al-islāmīah..
šīẖ ṭūsī, A. (2008). Al-mabsūṭ fī fiqh ālimāmīah. bīrūt: al-maktabah al-murtaḍawywah līḥyāʾ aṯār al-ǧaʿfarīwah.
Sobhani, J. (1983). šūrā in the Qur'an and nahǧ ālbalāġih. Qom: Qadr Publications.
Turiyḥī, F. (1995). Maǧmaʿ al-baḥraīn. tihrān: murtaḍawiy.
 
Articles
Anderson, C J., and Christine A. G. (1997). “Political Institutions and Satisfaction with Democracy: A Cross-National Analysis of Consensus and Majoritarian Systems”. American Political Science Review, 91 (2), 66-81.
Artés, J. (2013). Do Spanish Politicians Keep Their Promises?. Party Politics, 19 (1), 143–58.
Benjamin F. B. (1950). Promissory Estoppe/: Requirements and Limitations of the Doctrine, 98 U. PA. L. REV. 440-460.
Brandenburg. H, Mcmillan. F and Thomson, R. (2019). Does It Matter If Parties Keep Their Promises? The Impact of Voter Evaluations of Pledge Fulfilment on Vote Choice. APSA Pre-prints. Available at: https://preprints.apsanet.org/engage/apsa/article-details/5dc16b5522a8410012028167 (accessed 20 June 2021).
Cesi, C., Philip, K., Julien, L., Francesco, T. (2019). Making policies matter: Voter responses to campaign promises. The Economic Journal, 134 (July), 1875–1913.
Costello, R. and Robert, T,. (2008). Election Pledges and their Enactment in Coalition Governments: A Comparative Analysis of Ireland. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Policy, (18), 239-56.
Davis, M. A. and Ferrantino, M. (1996). Towards a Positive Theory of Political Rhetorics: Why Do Politicians Lie?. Public Choice, 88 (1-2), 1-13.
Eisenberg, M. A. (1982). The Bargain Principle and Its Limits. Harvard Law Review, 95 (4), 741-801.
Enriqueta, A., Thomas, P., Andrew, P. (2007), Political Reputations and Campaign Promis”.  Journal of the European Economic Association, 5 (4), 816-846.
Froio, C., Bevan, S and Jennings, W. (2017). Party Mandates and the Politics of Attention: Party Platforms, Public Priorities and the Policy Agenda in Britain. Party Politics, 23 (6), 692–703.
Gayar, A. (1986). Staple or prohibition of contradiction to the detriment of another. Translated by Nasser Sobh-Khiz, Legal Journal of International Service Office Publications, 6 (1), 22-49.
Ismaili, M. and Habib-Najad, A. (2016). Jurisprudential legal foundations of the necessity of fulfilling election promises and dealing with false promises. Quarterly Journal of Public Law Studies, 47(1), 135-150.
Kalogeropoulou, E. (1989). Election Promises and Government Performance in Greece: PASOK’s Fulfilment of Its 1981 Election Pledges. European Journal of Political Research, 17 (3), 289–311.
Keefer, P and Razvan, V. (2017).  Vote buying and campaign promises. Journal of Comparative Economics, 45 (4), 773–792.
Mansbridge, J. (2003). Rethinking Representation. American Political Science Review, 97 (1), 501-539.
Marsh, M. and Tilley. J. (2010). The Attribution of Credit and Blame to Governments and its Impact on Vote Choice. British Journal of Political Science, 40 (4), 115–134.
Mashayikhi, S. and Adabi, H. (2018). The scope and characteristics of the staple rule in domestic public law. Journal of Nations Research, 40 (2), pp. 69-88.
Naurin, E. and Oscarsson, H. (2017). When and Why Are Voters Correct in Their Evaluations of Specific Government Performance?. Political Studies, 65 (4), 860–876.
Safai, H. (1985). Force majeure or force majeure. International Legal Quarterly, 3 (1), 110-140.
Scanlon, T. (1990). Promises and Practices, Philosophy and Public Affairs, 3 (1), 199-226.
Schedler, A. (1998). The Normative Force of Electoral Promises. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 10 (2), 191-214.
Shaarerian, A. (2011). Compensation for moral damage caused by breach of contract. Legal Research, 5(54), 416-387.
Stanley, D. H. (1969). Promissory Estoppel/ and Traditional Contract Doctrine. YALE L.J, 78, 343-359.
Stephen, D. S. (1991). Read My Lips: Examining the Legal Implications of Knowingly False Campaign Promises. MICH. L. REV, 90, 390-428.
Thompson, D. K. (1979). Note, Equitable Estoppel of the Government, CoLUM. L. REV, 19, 540-554.
Thomson, R. (2001). The Progamme to Policy Linkage: The Fulfilment of Election Pledges on Socio-Economic Policy in the Netherlands. European Journal of Political Research, 40 (3), 171-197.
Public Law Knowledge Quarterly
Volume 13, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
September 2024
Pages 109-134

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 20 November 2022
  • Revise Date: 01 May 2024
  • Accept Date: 07 September 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics