Atlas / Comparisons / Khomeinism vs Putinism
Khomeinism and Putinism
Measured distance across six axes
Different families with real common ground. They agree within three points on CU, AU, SC, ID. They diverge by eight points or more on CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Velayat-e faqih | United Russia, sovereign democracy | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | −03 | +03 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +10 | +09 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +09 | +10 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +08 | +09 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +09 | +08 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +07 | −03 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
Velayat-e faqih · CH +07
Coded +7: founded in revolution and sustained by an armed body outside the ordinary state.
- Documented act or statuteThe Revolutionary Guard was created in 1979 as a parallel force answerable to the supreme leader.
United Russia, sovereign democracy · CH −03
Coded negative domestically: the regime is the established order and its change is conservative.
- Documented act or statuteConstitutional amendment by managed plebiscite rather than by rupture.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Khomeinism
1979– · Iran
Guardianship of the jurist: sovereignty belongs to God and is exercised by a supreme clerical authority over an elected government.
Putinism
2000– · Russia
A strong personalised state restoring great-power status, with traditional values against a decadent West.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas