The Bahá'í Administrative Order
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While encompassing millions of
people from diverse cultures spread to all corners of the world, the Bahá'í Faith is
endowed with a well-defined system of administration, which was initially revealed by
Bahá'u'lláh, formally established by his eldest son and successor, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and
finally realized during the Guardianship of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's eldest grandson, Shoghi
Effendi. This administrative system consists of two primary "branches": on
the one hand, a series of elected councils (on universal, national and local levels)
exercise legislative, executive and judicial power over the Bahá'í community; and on the
other hand, eminent and devoted Bahá'ís are appointed for the specific purpose of
propagating and protecting the Faith under the guidance of the head of the Faith, the
Universal House of Justice.
This administrative order is divinely guided,
and acts as a system of government for the Bahá'í community on a local, national and
global scale. Local and National Assemblies, as well as the Universal House of Justice,
are elected by the community without campaigning of any sort, and in an atmosphere of
unity and prayer. Bahá'ís view this system of administration as a blueprint for a global
alliance of nations in which corruption, self-serving interests, partisan
politics, and war among
nations would be made impossible.