Bahá'í administration

The Bahá'í administration refers to the administrative system of the Bahá'í Faith. It is split into two parts, the elected which include Local Spiritual Assemblies, National Spiritual Assemblies and the Universal House of Justice and the appointed which include the Continental Counselors, Auxiliary Board members and their assistants.

Character of Bahá'í Administration

The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith wrote that the Bahá'í Administrative Order incorporates within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the three recognized forms of secular government: Autocracy, Aristocracy and Democracy. His objective in effectively designing the Bahá'í Administrative Order was to embody, reconcile and assimilate within it "...such wholesome elements as are to be found in each one of them..." while excluding the "...admitted evils inherent in each of these systems..." such that it "...cannot ever degenerate into any form of despotism, of oligarchy, or of demagogy which must sooner or later corrupt the machinery of all man-made and essentially defective political institutions."[[1]]

Bahá'u'lláh commended the British system of government that enhanced kingship though consultation with the people: The system of government which the British people have adopted in London appeareth to be good, for it is adorned with the light of both kingship and of the consultation of the people.[2] But Bahá'u'lláh was not specifically endorsing parliamentary democracy, viz: Although a republican form of government profiteth all the peoples of the world, yet the majesty of kingship is one of the signs of God. We do not wish that the countries of the world should remain deprived thereof. If the sagacious combine the two forms into one, great will be their reward in the presence of God. [[3]]. These statements praise the principles of kingship and consultation with the people as principles for civil government. The Baha'i Administrative Order concerns the system of administration within the Baha'i Faith rather than civil government. This difference is highlighted in a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi concerning the future world government foretold by Bahá'u'lláh and outlined by Shoghi Effendi: As regards the International Executive referred to by the Guardian in his "Goal of a New World Order", it should be noted that this statement refers by no means to the Baha'i Commonwealth of the future, but simply to that world government which will herald the advent and lead to the final establishment of the World Order of Baha'u'llah. The formation of this International Executive, which corresponds to the executive head or board in present-day national governments, is but a step leading to the Baha'i world government of the future, and hence should not be identified with either the institution of the Guardianship or that of the International House of Justice. [4]

Structure

There are two distinct elements to the Bahá'í administration. They are the:

• Elected element consisting of Local, National and Worldwide bodies
• Appointed element which have bodies in a similar form of heirarchy

Elected

There are three main levels to the elected elemnt of the Bahá'í administration:

• The Universal House of Justice which is the supreme body within the Bahá'í faith.
• The National Spiritual Assembly which represents a nation as a whole (although there are occasional exceptions)
• The Local Spiritual Assembly which represents an area of a town or city

There is also occasionally a regional body that fits between the Local and National assemblies.

All stages are elected by Bahá'ís from a ground roots level (although indirectly – see section on elections below). The Universal House of Justice is assured as morally infallible, whereas the spiritual assemblies are not.

Appointed

There are three main levels of hierarchy to the appointed element of the Bahá'í administration. These are:

• The International Teaching Center which assists the Universal House of Justice and works directly beneath them
• The Continental Boards of Counsellors who advise Bahá'ís at a national level. They work on a set of countries within a continent.
• Auxiliary Board Members and their assistants (who they can appoint) who are generally assigned to a single country.

Elections

Campaigning

Baha'i elections have a number of unique characteristics.

• Campaigning and thus party politics is prohibited.
• There are no nominations.
• Voters are urged not to consult with each other about the suitability of individuals.

Belivers accept that these charactersitics result in a divinely directed election process and reduces the accountability of the voted (as they are accountable only to God). The elections are won by plurality.

Method

Bahá'í elections use what is described as a three-stage councilor-republican system.

Local or Regional

At the local (city, town, county) level of administration, the Local Spiritual Assembly, adult Bahá'ís in that particular locality get to vote once a year for their nine-member Local Spiritual Assembly.

In the United States and India, regional councils are elected by members of these Local Spiritual Assemblies in an election conducted by mail. Again, no nominations occur, each Local Spiritual Assembly member is direted to submit the names of the individuals in the region they feel are best suited to serve.

National

The selection of the National Spiritual Assembly is also indirect using a different method. The nation is divided into voting districts or units. In each district the members are charged to select one or more delegates who will represent them at the annual national convention, and who will vote for the members of the National Spiritual Assembly. The members at the local level then elect the individual(s) whom they believe will best represent them at the national convention, and who is the best qualified to vote for National Spiritual Assembly members. No input is provided to the delegate on whom to vote for in the national election. The number of delegates per country is determined by the Universal House of Justice according to the size of the national community; the National Spiritual Assembly determines the geographic area covered by each unit/district.

Worldwide

Every five years from 1963, members of all National Spiritual Assemblies are called to vote at an International Convention at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel for members of the Universal House of Justice. Those who are unable to attend send postal ballots.

Critics

Criticisms include:

• The Baha'i election process reduces the level of democracy since the delegate does not know whom Bahá'ís in his or her area would prefer as National Spiritual Assembly members and the Bahá'ís have know knowledge whom their delegates voted for. The individual believers therefore have no direct say or input in whom, at the National and Worldwide level, leads their faith. These critics contend that this lack of accountability means that the public and voters:
  • cannot voice their candidate preference to their delegates or national representatives
  • do not know who their delegate or National Spiritual Assembly members voted for
  • has resulted in increasing fundamentalism in the Baha'i administration. [5].
• Although no nominations are made, the incumbants and individuals appointed to prominant Bahá'í offices may be seen as effectively nominated due to their larger exposure to the public.
• Some feel the balance between the autocratic and the will of the Bahá'í voter as described in the Character section above is tilted too heavily in the autocratic direction.

At a worldwide level no Universal House of Justice member has ever been voted out, and in recent elections, it has become common for the vacancies to be filled by the members of the International Teaching Centre. Since this board is appointed by the Universal House of Justice, it has been suggested that the Universal House of Justice elections have been reduced to a process of self-appointment.

Response

It is worth noting that the selection of religious leaders by other than direct election is common. The first presidency of the Latter Day Saints is attained by seniority in the appointed board of Councilers. The Pope is elected by cardinals appointed by the Pope. In each of these cases, and in the Baha'i case, believers contend that the selection process is divinely directed. But mimicking flaws in other religious orders has never been the intention when the Bahá'í Administrative Order was drawn up by its founders. Their intention was to improve upon these systems as suggested in the 'character' above, where the ills of autocracy are to be eliminated by balancing autocracy with the strengths of democratic rule.