Imam Sadiq University Islamic Political Thought 2588-7459 10 2 2023 10 01 A Comparative study of Religious Democracy Model in the political thought of Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei 87 101 77414 10.30497/ipt.2023.77414 EN Mohsen Rahiminia Ph.D. of Political Thought, Faculty of Islamic Studies and Political Sciences, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran Jabar Shojaei Assistant Professor, Faculty of Islamic Education and Political Science, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2024 09 25 The analysis of the relationship between the people and the government and their roles and positions in governance is an age-old issue, with each school of thought and consequently each thinker presenting a framework for it. The people's political approach to governance in the context of the theory of religious democracy is both a product of the discourse of the Islamic Revolution and the lived experience of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Considering the governance experience of these two main theories in Iran, comparing their perspectives is key to solving many problems. By employing a selected theoretical approach and using a descriptive-analytical method, the authors have concluded that while there is a common discourse and approach between Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei, the theoretical development of this concept and the elaboration of its operational details are distinctive features of the Ayatollah Khamenei 's perspective on Imam Khomeini. https://ipt.isu.ac.ir/article_77414_62af1842466b5ac58fef328be0acadf6.pdf