QUESTION - Describe the basic features of political system of

Israel.
Israel, officially the State of Israel proclaimed on 14th May 1948 when
British Mandate ended.
Like most of world’s democracy, Israel also follows the path of a
Parliamentary democracy based on separation of power. Powers are
divided into three branches. The legislative branch, the Executive
Branch and the Independent Judicial branch.
The legislative power is vested in Knesset, the supreme authority in
Israel. It is a unicameral Parliament and is seated in Jerusalem. The
parliament consists of 120 members who is elected by proportional
representation by universal suffrage for a term of four years.
According to Electoral law, any citizen of either sex or over the age of
18 can vote for the Knesset. Israel was the first state is West Asia to
grant voting rights to Arab women. Also, every citizen above the age
of 21 who is voter, is eligible for elections.
The electoral system is based on proportional representation, in which
voters select the parties of their choice rather than any specific
candidate. Electors choose between national lists of Candidates. Each
political party presents a list with 120 candidates. This system of
proportional representation tends to encourage a multi-party rather a
two-party system and coalitions rather the one-party government.
As legislature, the Knesset enjoys de jure parliamentary supremacy
and it has power to repeal and enact all laws, even one that might
conflict with a Basic Law. The Knesset also amends existing laws.
The Knesset also supervises government activities through its
committees, nominates the Prime Minister and approves the cabinet,
and elects the President of the state and The State Comptroller. It also
has the power to remove the President and State Comptroller from
office. It can revoke the immunity of its members, and to dissolve
itself and call new elections. The debates in the Knesset are open to
the public and are conducted in Hebrew.
Bills are proposed mainly by the Cabinet, drafted by ministry of
Justice. A Bill requires three readings before it becomes law. Every
law passes by the Knesset is signed by the president of the State.
The tenure for the President for a period of five years. The president
receives foreign diplomat signs treaties that have been approved by
the Knesset, and formally appoints foreign representatives, judges and
religious judges. He also has the power to pardon and of commuting
sentences. The first President was the Late Dr. Chaim Weizmann, and
the current president is Isaac Herzog. In the system adopted by Israel,
the position of the President is akin to that of the British Queen.
The system of government in Israel follows the British pattern of
Parliament democracy in which Cabinet is the real executive
government, responsible to Parliament. Most of the Ministers are
members of the Knesset, but the Cabinet non-members. As none of
the Parties in the Knesset has so far commanded absolute majority, all
cabinets in Israel have up till now been based on Coalitions. The
President cabinet included about 15 ministers, administrative
departments into 15 ministers: Defence, Agriculture, Commerce and
Industry, Communications, Development, Education and Culture,
Finance, Foreign Affairs, Health and Posts, Interior, Justice, Labour,
Police, Religious Affairs, and Social Welfare.
 Whereas, the judicial branch is independent branch of the
government, including secular and religious courts for the
various religions present in Israel. The judicial system involves
three stages of justice. Judges for all courts are appointed by the
Judicial Selection Committee. The committee composed of nine
members: two cabinet members, two Knesset members, two
members of the Israel Bar Association and three Supreme courts
justices. The committee is chaired by the Minister of Justice.
 The Law courts of Israel have shown a high degree of judicial
wisdom and political independence. Nobody in Israel can be
arrested without Magistrate’s warrant. Israeli judicial court
consist of a three-tier system:
  Magistrate Courts: are found in all major towns and deals with
small monetary claims, minor criminal charges and certain
matters related with land.
 District Courts: every action- civil or criminal not triable by a
magistrate comes within the jurisdiction of the district court,
Except for cases involving personal status, which may go before
the religious court. The district court also sits as court of appeal
from magistrate’s courts, and in some cases act as court of
appeal from administrative tribunals. There is no jury system in
Israel, and court is imposed of one or of three judges, who
decide all question of fact and Law.
 Supreme court: is at apex of the judicial ladder in the land from
which there is no appeal. Its venue is Jerusalem. It has 9
members. The normal numbers of judges sitting in any case is 3,
but in exceptional cases the court may consist of 5 judges. The
supreme court also sits as a high court of justice and as a court
of appeal in matters of principle concerning the interpretation of
law.
 Religious courts: There are 3 major religious communities, each
of which has its own religious courts and court of appeal.
Matters dealing with marriage and divorce are left entirely to
these courts which decide according to rabbinical (Jewish) law,
sharia (Muslim) law or canon (Christian) law, as the case may
be.
 Labour courts: it deals over cases that involves employer-
employee relationship, employment, strikes and labour union
disputes, labour-related complaints against the National
Insurance Institute and Health Insurance claims.
 Military courts: it is the Israel defence Force’s supreme
appellate court.
Most political parties in Israel were created a generation or two before
the state. All of Israel’s leader are members of political parties and
obey party discipline. The largest party in the Knesset is the Mapai
(labour Party). It was founded in 1930. It is democratic-socialist
party.it has been head for all Israel’s coalition government. There are
two other socialist parties, Ahdut Avoda and Mapam stand to the left
of Mapai in matters of economic policy. There are two religious
parties which incorporate both socialist and capitalist features, one is
‘Agudat Israel’ and the National Religious Party. The Centre is
occupied by the Progressive Party. More to the right are General
Zionists, at the extreme Right is the ultra-nationalist Herut which
advocates the restoration of Israel and its historic boundaries. On the
extreme left, there is Communist Party.
Local Government has been one of the most significant features of
democratic institutions. There 167 local authorities in which 21
municipalities, 96 local councils, and 50 regional councils,
comprising 625 villages. Local authorities have been elected once in 5
years. The State of Israel is divided into six administrative districts:
Jerusalem; Northern (Nazareth); Haifa (Tiberias); Central (Ramla);
Tel Aviv; Southern (Beersheba).
QUESTION – Define the concept of State and Nation and state
the difference between them?
The concept of ‘State” is central to the study of political Science as
the Political Theorist R.G. Gettel defined Political Science as ‘the
science of the State.’ The concept of ‘state’ is modern, the
contemporary concept of ‘state’ owes its origin to Italian Philosopher,
Machiavelli, who expressed his idea of state in the early sixteenth
century as the ‘power which has authority over men’. This idea
describes the nature of the state.
Many authors gave different definitions of State. Famous German
Sociologist, Max Weber defines “A state is a human community that
(successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical
force within a given territory.” Harold J. Laski defines State is “a
territorial society divided into governments and subjects, whether
individuals or association of individuals, whose relationships are
determined by the exercise of this supreme coercive power.” whereas
Gilchrist defines “The State is a concept of political science, and a
moral reality which exist where a number of people, living in a
definite territory, are unified under a government which is in internal
matters is the organ of expressing their sovereignty, and in external
independence of other governments.”
Hence, in my view the term ‘State’ means an independent, sovereign
government exercising control over a certain spatially defined and
bounded area, whose borders are usually clearly defined and
recognized by other states. State is an institution to maintain to ensure
law and order and maintain harmony of social relations and as
Aristotle said, “The State comes into existence originating in the bare
needs of life and continues its existence for the sake of good life.”
It is stated that only within a state that an individual can rise to his or
her ability. Although, the structure of the state has change over a
period of time, from a simple to a complex organization that we have
today. However, The Marxist view the state is a class organization,
which has been created by the properties class to oppress and exploit
the poor. They deny the view that state is a natural institution, for
them the properties class created the state, and it has always belonged
to them only. Thus, the state is just a means of exploitation.
There are various constituent elements of the state which include:
population, territory, government and sovereignty.
 Population – the state is a human institution; it is the people who
make a state. Without population, the state can’t sustain. but the
question how much should be the population? Greek thinker
was of the view that the population should neither be too big nor
too small. It should be large enough to be self-sufficing and
small enough to be well governed. Whereas according to
Rousseau put the number at 10,000. But it is difficult to fix the
size of the people of a state, for example in Modern times
countries like India and China have huge population and
countries like San Marino with a very small population. With
the quantity, the quality of the state is also important. A state
requires healthy, intelligent and disciplined citizens. In the
modern era, the population of the state does not need to belong
to a single race, religion, language or culture.
 Territory – territory is another important element of the state, as
a state comes into existence only when its population is settled
into a fixed territory. State must possess a territory where its
authority is accepted without dispute and challenge. Territory of
the state includes the land, water, and airspace within its
boundary. Territory embodies the sphere of sovereignty of the
state. Territory contains the important natural resources for the
sustenance of the population of the state. It provides the security
and immense opportunities for a fuller life to its residents. In
addition, territory for people is also an object of sentimental
attachment; people love and worship their motherland. Like
population, the size of territory cannot be fixed.
 Government – It is the third essential element of the state, as the
authority of state is exercised by government; functions of the
state are performed by the government. Laws of the state are
 made, declared and enforced by the legislature and executive
branch of the government. In addition, justice is delivered by the
judicial branch of the government. Therefore, government is
responsible to run the state and look after every facet of the
state. However, government and state are not synonymous to
each other as government may rise and fall without disturbing
the core identity of state.
 Sovereignty- the fourth essential element of the state, the term
Sovereignty denotes the supreme power of the state to make
laws or to take political decisions also enforcing those laws and
decisions by the use of legitimate force. Sovereignty denotes the
final authority of the state over its territory and population. a
state must be internally supreme and free from external control.
Thus, sovereignty has two aspects, internal and external
sovereignty. Internal sovereignty is the state’s monopoly of
authority inside its boundaries. This authority cannot be shared
with any other states. The external sovereignty means that state
is independent and free from foreign or external control.
Therefore, every state in order to be called as a ‘State’ must have a
population, a definite territory, a duly established government and
sovereignty. The absence of any of these elements deprives it from
the status of statehood.
Whereas by Nation, it means a historically constituted stable
community of people formed on the basis of a common language,
territory, economic life and psychological make up manifested in a
common culture. The idea of Modern nation was born in late
eighteenth century and some commentators see them as an
outcome of French Revolution. Previously countries were seen as
‘realms’, ‘principalities’ or ‘kingdoms.’
Nation are complex phenomena that are shaped by a collection of
cultural, political and psychological factors. Culturally, a nation is
a group of people bound together by a common language, religion,
history and traditions, although all nations exhibit some degree of
cultural heterogeneity. Politically, a nation is a group of people
who regard themselves as a ‘natural” political community usually
expressed through the desire to establish or maintain sovereignty.
Whereas psychologist, a nation is a group of people who are
distinguished by a shared loyalty or affection, in the form of
patriotism, although people who lack national pride may still
nevertheless recognize that they ‘belong’ to the nation.
a nation is a social, cultural, psychological, emotional and political unity which is tied together by
abstract bonds rather than physical needs of people.

There are few elements of a Nation, a shared history, a shared

culture and tradition and a shared language, a shared religion and a
shared geographical, sovereignty nation-state.
Some of the major differences between the state and nation are as
follow.
 Nation and state are distinct entities. A nation may not be
always a state; India was not a state before August 1947. A
state may not always be a nation. Austria - Hungary was a
state but not a nation before World War I because the
heterogeneous people did not form a culturally homogeneous
people
 The elements of State and Nation are different: the state
has four elements – population, territory, government and
sovereignty. On the contrary, a nation is a group of people
who have a strong sense of unity and common consciousness.
Whereas Nation has, common race, common religion,
common language, common history, common culture and
common political aspiration are the elements of nations.
 State is a political organization while Nation is a social,
cultural, psychological, emotional and political unity: the
state is a political organization which fulfils the security and
welfare needs of its people.
 Possession of a Definite Territory is essential for the State
but not the Nation: Definite territory is essential for the state
as it is an essential element for the statehood. State is
 territorial entity. But for a nation, territory is not essential, as
a nation can survive even without a fixed territory. For
instance, before the 1948 the Jews were a nation even though
they had no fixed territory. In 1948, when they proclaimed
the definite territory, they established the State of Israel.
 A state may be larger than a nation. The former USSR had,
within it, more than a hundred nationalities. Conversely, a
nation may be larger than a state; a nationality may spread
over two states. The Korean nationality is spread over two
states: North Korea and South Korea.
 There is an element of force connected with the state. The
state’s laws are binding. There is a coercion exercised by the
state if its authority is defied. In the case of the nation, there
is the element of persuasion.
 Sovereignty is essential for State but not for Nation:
Sovereignty is the chief characteristic of a state; it is not a
feature of the nation. A nation becomes a nation-state when
the nation attains statehood.

QUESTION- Describe the political features of Islamic Republic of

Iran.
Iran, officially the Islamic republic of Iran is a country situated in
West Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey in West, by Caspian Sea
and Turkmenistan in the north and by Afghanistan and Pakistan in the
east and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf in the south. After
1979 Iranian Revolution, the Iranian Political system was much
debated. Although, Iran is a self-declared Islamic Republic. Various
scholars to define Iran’s political system used term as democratic
theocracy, oligarchic theocracy, and religious but many scholars
eventually concludes that Iranian political system can be best defined
with the term “mullahcracy (government of the mullahs)” as the
mullahs hold the ultimate political power in the country.
According to its constitution, Iran is an Islamic republic and a unitary
state, where state power is divided into three main branches: namely
the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. Iran has basically nine
political institutions, first of them is the Assembly of Experts, which
consists of 88 mujtahids and ayatollahs. Although women are de jure
possible but has never been seen. They are elected by the public for a
term of eight years, there not condition clarified in the constitution for
nomination for this post. Members of the Assembly have been experts
in Islamic Jurisprudence according to a law decreed by the Iranian
Parliament. Assembly meets at least two times a week, and these
experts elect the supreme leader and take him out of the office. Yet
have never
 Supreme Leader 8 years, unlimited number of terms Elected by the Assembly of Experts; has
the authority to appoint heads of powerful posts like commander of armed forces, heads of
major religious foundations, director of national radio and television network, prayer leaders
of city mosques, chief judge, members of the National Security Council, dealing with foreign
affairs and defence, chief prosecutor, 12 jurists of Guardian Council. Has the power to
remove President
 President 4 years, limit of two consecutive terms Elected by the direct vote of people,
subordinate to the Supreme Leader; Appoints the Head of Cabinet and Government, Head of
Council of National Security, selects all Vice Presidents, sends and receives foreign
ambassadors and is Head of Council of Cultural Revolution
 Guardian Council 12 6 years Checks the consistency of legislation with Islam and has the veto
power; vets the electoral candidates
 Parliament 290 4 years Legislation and Oversight
 Assembly of Experts, 88, 7 years Chooses the next Supreme Leader, can remove the
Supreme Leader
 Expediency Council 39, 5 years, Advisory body to Supreme Leader; mediate

POLITICAL SYSTEM OF ISRAEL

Israel, officially the State of Israel was proclaimed on 14th May 1938,
when the British mandate ended. Israel does not have any constitution
in general. Just like other democracies in the world, Israel is also
Parliamentary democracy based on separation of power. power is
divided into three branches – the Executive, the Judiciary and the
Legislature
Legislature power is vested with the Knesset, it is the supreme
authority in Israel. It is unicameral and seated in Jerusalem. The
Parliament consists of 120 members who are elected by proportional
representation by universal suffrage for the term of 4 years.
According to electoral law, any citizen of either sex or over the age of
18 can vote for the Knesset. Israel was the first state in the West Asia
to give Arab women right to vote.
The electoral system of Israel is based on proportional representation
in which voters select their parties rather than selecting specific
candidates. Every party presents a list of 120 candidates. This system
of proportional representation tends to encourage the multi-party
system.
The Knesset enjoys the de-jure parliament authority, it enforces and
repeal the laws even the one who are in contradictory with basic law
and can amend the existing laws. The Knesset also supervises the
government activities thorough committees, nominates the Prime
minister and approve the cabinet, elects the President and the state
comptroller. It can revoke the immunities of its members and can
dissolve itself and call for new elections. The debates in the Knesset
are open to public and conducted in Hebrew.
Bills are proposed by the cabinet, drafted by the ministry of justice. A
bills required three times reading before it becomes law. Every law
passes by the Knesset is signed by the President of the state. The
tenure for president of the state is 7 years, he receives the foreigns
officers, signs the international agreements that have been approved
by the Knesset and formally appoint foreign representative, judges
and religious judges.
He also has power to pardon and commuting sentences. The first
president was Late Dr Claim Weziman and the current president is
Issac Herzog.
The Isreali President as akin to the British queen.
The system of govt of Israel follows the path of British Parliamentary
democracy in which Cabinet is the real executive government,
responsible to parliament. Most of the ministries are the members of
the Knesset, the cabinet are non-members. As none of the Parties in
the kneest has so far been able to gain absolute majority , all cabinets
are based on coalition. The cabinet include 15 ministries: the
administrative department into 15 ministries: defence, agriculture,
foreign affairs, social welfare, health and posts, interior,
communication, education and development, labour, police, religious
affair, commerce, industry, culture, justice and finance.
The third branch of the government: the Judiciary, which consists of
courts, tribunals and supreme court. Court deals with cases of person
of charged with breach of basic law, different types of cases such as
criminal and civil cases are rbough to different courts like Magistrate,
district and Supreme court. Supreme court is at the apex of judicial
ladder. Om addition to ordinary courts, it also has labour courts,
religious court and military coirts to delas with special matters. Judges
for all courts are appointed by the Judicial selection committee.
The largest political party in the Knesset is Mapai (labour party)
founded in 1930, it is democratic-socialist party. The there is two
socialist parties Ahdut Avoda and Mapam. There are two religious
parties which has both socialist and capital features one is ‘Agudat
Israel’ and The National Religious Party. Then in the centre we have
the Progressive party. On left we have communist party.
The local government of Israel has ben one of the significant feature
of democratic institutions . there 167 local authorities 21
municipalities, 96 local councils and 50 regional councils, which 625
villages. Local authorities have been elected once in 5 years.
OPEC

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent,

intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on
September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
OPEC's objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member
Countries to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient,
economic, and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair
return on capital to those investing in the industry. As of September 2018, it
has 13 member countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent
of global oil production and 81.5 % of the world's proven oil reserves,
giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices, it acted as a cartel
which coordinates production level among members to manipulate the oil
prices.
OPEC was set out not only to negotitate higher prices for petroleum but also to
pursue greater control over their own resources through the nationalization of
international oil company. Most Opec nation now own all of their natural
resources.
OPEC burst onto the world state in 1973, late thar year Egypt and Syria
launched a attack against Israel, and US responded with $2.2 billion military aid
package to Israeli as a result, OPEC retailiated with an embargo against the
United States and few other allies of Israel and began to cut the production,
which led to consumers panicked and markets tightened. President Nixon
instituted price control on gasoline.
From 1972 to ``1977, the OPEC profited handsomely . the combined petroleum
earning of its members rose from $23 billion to $144 billion. Meanwhile, in the
West oil prices caused recessions. US GDP fell while unemployment doubled. A
senior fellow at CFR writes that “oil embargo was “hailed at the time as a
victory of third world’s power to bring the west on it knees”
Theefore, in 1970s OPEC was feared and celebrate for its power to impose
economic pain on the west. but in 21st century, although it is stated that Fossil
fuels will remain the world’s dominant source but with the coming of new
alternatives like nuclear energy, hydropower, shale based energies and
renewable sources of energy. Also while speaking of future, with the world
becoming increasingly conscious of environmental matters, which also resulted
into the Paris Agreement in 2015 ], this can also cause enormous damage to
the OPEC’s power position in the international politics.