Abstract

The present study aims to elucidate strategies for strengthening the political thought of the clerical institution in the governance process of the Second Step of the Islamic Revolution. Employing a qualitative approach, the research relied on content analysis of semi-structured interviews with 24 academic and seminary elites (selected through purposive snowball sampling) as well as a review of existing documents. The conceptual framework was grounded in a contextualized definition of key terms and a localized knowledge management model encompassing three components: the production, dissemination, and reproduction of political ideas. The findings, derived from a SWOT analysis, indicate that the clerical institution benefits from strengths such as jurisprudential authority, social legitimacy, and historical capital; faces weaknesses including the gap between theory and practice and deficiencies in education and research; encounters threats such as secularization trends, cognitive warfare, internal rigidity, and institutional dependency; while also possessing opportunities such as dynamic ijtihad, engagement with the humanities, and civilizational contribution. Elite scoring on a Likert scale revealed the institution’s dominant position as “defensive/WT.” Based on this, a second round of in-depth interviews was conducted using formalized questions validated by two experts. Integrating the results into the three components of knowledge management, the study proposes strategies such as establishing chairs for governance-oriented ijtihad, compiling an encyclopedia of Islamic governance concepts, advancing interdisciplinary research, developing systematic monitoring and data management networks, enhancing media and discourse-building skills, conducting continuous feedback surveys, forming a council for coordinated political thought, and promoting a culture of reflexivity. The proposed model has the potential to enhance and consolidate the clerical institution’s role in idea generation, discursive legitimation, and effective guidance of governance in the Second Step of the Islamic Revolution.