Title
Democracy in Iran : Why It Failed and How It Might Succeed / Misagh Parsa.
ISBN
9780674970434
Published
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2017]
Copyright
©2016
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (376 p.)
Item Number
10.4159/9780674970434 doi
Call Number
DS318.825 P38 2016eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
320.955
Summary
The Green Movement protests that erupted in Iran in 2009 amid allegations of election fraud shook the Islamic Republic to its core. For the first time in decades, the adoption of serious liberal reforms seemed possible. But the opportunity proved short-lived, leaving Iranian activists and intellectuals to debate whether any path to democracy remained open. Offering a new framework for understanding democratization in developing countries governed by authoritarian regimes, Democracy in Iran is a penetrating, historically informed analysis of Iran's current and future prospects for reform. Beginning with the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Misagh Parsa traces the evolution of Iran's theocratic regime, examining the challenges the Islamic Republic has overcome as well as those that remain: inequalities in wealth and income, corruption and cronyism, and a "brain drain" of highly educated professionals eager to escape Iran's repressive confines. The political fortunes of Iranian reformers seeking to address these problems have been uneven over a period that has seen hopes raised during a reformist administration, setbacks under Ahmadinejad, and the birth of the Green Movement. Although pro-democracy activists have made progress by fits and starts, they have few tangible reforms to show for their efforts. In Parsa's view, the outlook for Iranian democracy is stark. Gradual institutional reforms will not be sufficient for real change, nor can the government be reformed without fundamentally rethinking its commitment to the role of religion in politics and civic life. For Iran to democratize, the options are narrowing to a single path: another revolution.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Aug 2021)
Frontmatter
Contents
Preface
Part I. Introduction and Theory
1. Iran's Dilemma
2. Alternative Routes to Democracy: Synthesizing Structures and Processes
Part II. Revolution and The Political Economy of Theocracy
3. Ideologies, Revolution, and the Formation of a Theocracy
4. Politicization of the Economy and Declining Performance
5. Failure to Reform and a Return to Repression
Part III. Challenges Against The Islamic Regime
6. Students: Vanguard of Struggles for Democracy
7. The Rise and Demise of the Green Movement
Part IV. Irreconcilable Conflicts
8. Why the Movement Failed
9. Irreconcilable Conflicts and Endless Repression
10. The Path Forward
Notes
Index
