Optimal Modeling of Political-Administrative Organization in Iran

Abstract

A good governance in society that can increase government satisfaction has been studied by political geographers; in order to achieve the optimal form of political management of space, these scientists have analyzed different administrative-political systems and the reason for their formation, so that with this systematic method, they can develop a model that is most consistent with public demands in order to provide services and facilitate public affairs.With the change in the approach of governments in the world, which was embodied in the Treaty of Westphalia since 1648 and led to recognition of countries, political management of space in countries was practically formed in two ways, centralized and decentralized. Due to the spirit of monarchy at the beginning of formation of countries and until the beginning of the twentieth century, most countries of the world were governed centrally. However, some governments were forced to change their approach to management and delegated public and economic affairs to local governments, until many decentralized governments were formed.In Iran, political management of space was on the agenda of Iranian governments since about 3,000 years ago; looking at the political history of Iran, it is clear this land was governed in a decentralized manner during the time of powerful Iranian governments. Due to the weak and dysfunctional Qajar government and the failure to achieve the goals of the Constitutional Revolution, Iran witnessed the emergence of Reza Shah, who founded the centralized governance in Iran by imitating some foreign countries and without considering the territorial characteristics of Iran; this political-administrative system has not changed significantly to this day. Taking into account the temporal and spatial conditions and movement towards fair and balanced development, we need to develop a national and optimal administrative system that redefines the political divisions, administrative structure and authorities of spatial units and a comprehensive and transparent model which emphasizes the natural and human indicators of the country. This model should also consider new features such as sea and tourism in the process of sustainable development of the country.