Bahá'í administration

The Bahá'í administration or Bahá'í administrative order refers to the administrative system of the Bahá'í Faith. It is split into two parts, the elected and the appointed. The supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith is the Universal House of Justice, situated in Haifa, Israel.

Some features set apart the Bahá'í administration from similar systems of human government: elected representatives should follow their conscience, rather than being responsible to the views of electors; political campaigning, nominations and parties are prohibited; and religious authority was passed down from its founder to the Universal House of Justice.

The Bahá'í administration has four charter documents,

Shoghi Effendi 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: , 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." [3]

Bahá'u'lláh commended the British system of government that enhanced kingship through consultation with the people:

But Bahá'u'lláh was not specifically endorsing parliamentary democracy, viz:

These statements praise the principles of kingship and consultation with the people as principles for civil government. The Bahá'í Administrative Order concerns the system of administration within the Bahá'í 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:

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