Atlas / Comparisons / Khomeinism vs US Republican Party
Khomeinism and US Republican Party
Measured distance across six axes
Different families with real common ground. No axis places them within three points of each other. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, SC, CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Velayat-e faqih | GOP | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | −03 | +06 | 9 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +10 | +06 | 4 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +09 | +03 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +08 | 00 | 8 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +09 | +04 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| 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 · EC −03
Coded −3: very large state and foundation ownership alongside a private bazaar economy.
- Documented act or statuteThe bonyad religious foundations control a substantial share of non-oil GDP and report to the supreme leader.
GOP · EC +06
Market-oriented on taxation and regulation, with a substantial tariff turn since 2017 that pulls it back toward the centre.
- Documented act or statuteThe 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the corporate rate from 35 to 21 percent.
- Documented act or statuteBroad tariffs from 2018 onward are a protectionist instrument and are coded as pulling the score left of where the 1990s party sat.
Velayat-e faqih · SC +08
Coded +8: unitary clerical authority with appointed provincial representatives above elected councils.
- Documented act or statuteThe supreme leader appoints representatives in every province and in the armed forces.
GOP · SC 00
Coded at zero: federalist in doctrine and centralising in practice on the issues it prioritises.
- Programme textStates' rights invoked on education and health, while federal preemption is sought on immigration enforcement and energy permitting.
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.
US Republican Party
1854– · United States
Limited federal government, lower taxes, strong defence, religious and family traditionalism, gun rights.
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