Politics versus Politics

Because of their non-involvement in partisan politics, Bahá'ís are sometimes described as "apolitical". I think this is not entirely correct. The way I understand it, "politics" has two meanings. One is the science that seeks the best ways of administering the body politic. The other is a struggle for "power", defined as the ability to impose the will of one individual or group on others, which underlies the current party system. Baha'is are actively studying and trying to apply politics in the former sense, and many of Baha'u'llah's writings deal with this topic, all the way from strengthening grass-roots governance to establishing a world-wide federation of nations.

However, we avoid participating in politics in the latter sense, as we feel it is one aspect of the disease of divisiveness that is tearing apart the human race. Obviously, as long as the party system is in effect it will need its activists, but Baha'is neither join political parties nor campaign for or against any candidate. Rather, we promote and practice a system that we hope will gradually replace the traditional one, which applies collective decision-making through 'consultation' instead of confrontation, leading to unity in diversity of thought, and from there to unity in diversity of action.

How does this work in the Baha'i world community? Its governing bodies are elected by a method in which there are no candidates named nor campaigning for or against anyone. All adults of a community are eligible, making it more fully democratic than most electoral systems. This body at a local level is called the Local Spiritual Assembly, which is elected yearly by the direct vote of all local adult members. National Spiritual Assemblies are elected yearly through indirect voting, that is, by delegates elected directly through several District Conventions in each country, although all adult Baha'is of the country are eligible. The Universal House of Justice is elected every 5 years through indirect voting, that is, by the members of all National Spiritual Assemblies at that time, and all adult Baha'is of the world are eligible.

Each of these governing bodies has 9 members. Voters simply write 9 names on secret ballots in a prayerful attitude, seeking people with such qualities as unquestioned loyalty, selfless devotion, a well-trained mind, recognized ability, and mature experience, and elections result from a simple (not necessarily absolute) majority of votes. One interesting thing is that these nine have authority only when meeting as an institution; outside the meeting they have no special rank over the rest of the community. In this way, authority resides in institutions, but not in their individual members.

Authority is defined as the right to make decisions that others should abide by (including the institution's members themselves, who see themselves merely as servants of the institution, not as its figureheads). But these governing bodies do not represent a clergy (there is none in the Baha'i Faith), as they have no say in "matters of conscience". That is, they do not decide what Baha'is should believe, but rather what actions the community should take jointly in service to humanity. Their duties are administrative and in a certain sense legislative, as they put the final seal of decision on a process of search for best measures which starts at the grassroots level where members of all ages participate.

Obviously, there is a lot more to be said about the Baha'i administrative order, but I don't want to abuse the reader's patience. For further information, see the following sites:

Administrative system:
http://www.bahai.org/article-1-3-0-6.html (it is titled "Universal House of Justice", but talks about the other institutions I mentioned also).

Collective decision-making:
http://www.bahai.org/article-1-3-6-3.html

Service and Development:
http://www.bahai.org/article-1-8-0-1.html

Note: The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of VirtualBahai or any institution of the Baha’i Faith.