Leadership as a balancer: a case study of the role of leadership in maintaining the republican system

Regarding the ratio of democracy and the new middle class, there have been many controversies in development theories. Classical theories believed that the new middle class was ideologically dependent on democracy. As a result, with the formation of this class, there will be a lot of pressure on the political system to reform the procedures in favor of democratic features. The result of this equation is the conflict between this class with traditional, semi-modern, or authoritarian systems. Thinkers like Poulanzas and Dalal have spoken about the possibility of this class's existence and cooperation with such systems. The question is how the new middle class has turned to cooperate with the political system in the religious democratic system? This research has been carried out with an analytical approach, using the case study method, and historical sources and socio-economic statistics. The result is that Iran's political system has a native component, namely the institution of religious authority, which, as a balancer, has been able to use both the capacities of the republican resources and the resources of Islam to protect the people, including the supporters of this class.Despite the differences in worldview, values and norms, the new middle class is satisfied with the current capabilities of the Islamic system and tries to pursue its goals within it.