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Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
by Ali Gheissari (Author), Vali Nasr (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
Print length : 232 pages
3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars (3)
Today Iran is once again in the headlines. Reputed to be developing nuclear weapons, the future of Iraq's next-door neighbor is a matter of grave concern both for the stability of the region and for the safety of the global community. President George W. Bush labeled it part of the "Axis of Evil," and rails against the country's authoritarian leadership. Yet as Bush trumpets the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East, few note that Iran has one of the longest-running experiences with democracy in the region.In this book, Ali Gheissari and Vali Nasr look at the political history of Iran in the modern era, and offer an in-depth analysis of the prospects for democracy to flourish there. After having produced the only successful Islamist challenge to the state, a revolution, and an Islamic Republic, Iran is now poised to produce a genuine and indigenous democratic movement in the Muslim world. Democracy in Iran is neither a sudden development nor a western import, Gheissari and Nasr argue. The concept of democracy in Iran today may appear to be a reaction to authoritarianism, but it is an old idea with a complex history, one that is tightly interwoven with the main forces that have shaped Iranian society and politics, institutions, identities, and interests. Indeed, the demand for democracy first surfaced in Iran a century ago at the end of the Qajar period, and helped produce Iran's surprisingly liberal first constitution in 1906. Gheissari and Nasr seek to understand why democracy failed to grow roots and lost ground to an autocratic Iranian state. Why was democracy absent from the ideological debates of the 1960s and 1970s? Most important, why has it now become a powerful social, political, and intellectual force? How have modernization, social change, economic growth, and the experience of the revolution converged to make this possible?
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Review
"A clear and readable account of politics in the Islamic Republic."--The Washington Post
"A comprehensive overview of Iran's history on its way towards democracy...shed[s] new light on already well-known facts, recombining them into an unfamiliar but conclusive shape; and on top of that is an impressive read."--Iranian Studies
"Democracy in Iran unravels the jumble of paradoxes that have marked Iranian politics over the last century. The country has experienced considerable success in state-building and development but has periodically undermined both by failing to consolidate democracy. Presently, it has many of the elements of a lively democracy but, somehow, is not a democracy at all. Iranians have successfully challenged candidates supported by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic but have failed to weaken clerical control of the state. Vali Nasr and Ali Gheissari do an outstanding job of explaining how Iran keeps flirting with democratic governance, more than practically any other Islamic country in the Middle East, yet somehow always seems to fall short of sealing the marriage."--Joel Migdal, Professor of International Studies, University of Washington, and author of State in Society
"A comprehensive account of political developments in Iran in the last century, theoretically sophisticated and yet very accessible. Easily the best book in a decade on Iran's bumpy road to democracy through two revolutions and much anti-democratic state-building."--Said Amir Arjomand, author of The Turban for the Crown
"Democracy in Iran is a bold and sweeping survey of the past century of Iranian political history, an absorbing drama of contending ideologies, social classes, revolutionary movements, international pressures, political factions, and charismatic leaders. Nasr and Gheissari vividly expose Iran's ongoing struggle between democratic principles of freedom and accountability, the authoritarian-modernist quest for order and development, and revolutionary idealism, both secular and religious. In the process, they show once again the folly of all forms of utopianism and the necessity of constitutional and representative government. This is not just a book about Iran, but an insightful study of how regimes rise, evolve, stagnate, fragment, and fall." --Larry Diamond, author of Squandered Victory
"Iran is often portrayed in the West as 'despotic, ' 'autocratic, ' and 'totalitarian.' This lucid and succinct book is an excellent antidote to the conventional view. It narrates eloquently the history of modern Iran through the prism of democracy--its birth, growth, trials and tribulations, and, despite recent setbacks, its continued vibrancy and extensive social roots. Those interested in modern Iran would do well to read this highly informative book." --Ervand Abrahamian, author of Tortured Confessions
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From other countries
Edward Brynes
3.0 out of 5 stars Ambiguities of state-building and democratization
Reviewed in the United States on 29 May 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This book is a history, from the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 to the present, of the implementation of two political concepts, state-building and democratization.. It is not about the concepts themselves or the history of Iran, both of which the reader is expected to understand, but their interaction. In accordance with Francis Fukuyama, the authors see them as opposites that a state must try to realize together. Too much democratizing results in a feeble state, or anarchy; too much state-building results in totalitarianism; the problem is to find the right mix. In Iran, democratization has been the deficient ingredient.
Iran's weakness as a state became apparent even before the 20th century, when Britain and Russia overwhelmed her frail military forces and carved out considerable occupation zones. This weak state was a result of the arbitrary power granted to the shah ("king"), who readily gave foreigners concessions in return for payments. The tobacco boycott of the 1890s had been the result of a concession of the exclusive right to sell tobacco. Iranians reacted by refusing to smoke. The shah got the concession cancelled after paying a huge indemnity. Here we see popular disaffection with the shah, who was granted too much power by tradition. The Constitutional Revolution of 1906, gave Iran its first constitution and a national assembly (majles). The middle-class merchants and ulama (clergy), seeing the problem as an excessively powerful shah, set conditions on monarchical absolutism. The authors comments; "... the term constitutionalism was translated as 'mashroutiyat' (setting conditions) which implied placing conditions on monarchical absolutism." (p. 27) Here we see democratization. But Russia was a powerful force for the old order. The shah's successor turned to Russia and the Cossack Brigade to assert the monarchy's power and undo the Constitution. He arrested constitionalist leaders and ordered the Cossack Brigade (the most powerful military unit in the country, commanded by Russians) to bombard the parliament. Thus democratization was effectively stalled less than two years after the first parliament even if Iran did not fully return to the old pre-Constitutional situation.
Another instance of these conflicting concepts occurred immediately after World War I, when the condition of the country was anarchic. There were pro-communist rebels in Khorasan and Azerbaijan, unruly Kurdish tribes in the north, and various semi-autonomous states in the southeast. Reza Khan, commander of the Cossack Brigade, felt that this was a time for state-building, not democratization; Reza's forceful suppression of secessionists earned him the confidence of the Majles, who forced the last Qajar Shah, now an absentee in Paris, to abdicate and install himself as shah Reza Pahlavi. During his reign from 1925 to 1941. Reza was an extremely energetic ruler after the pattern of Ataturk in Turkey, who interfered with Iranians' personal lives -- no veil for women for example. No doubt there were some Iranian women who saw this as interference in their freedom
But we may not be sure just how democratizing or state-building a state action is. If a police department hires ten more officers, that could be state-building (if they are on patrol) or it may be democratizing (if they serve on a civilian review board). Quite likely it could be both. The authors are aware of this ambiguity and their book seems to struggle with it.. But they do present a detailed picture of recent developments in Iran from 1989 to the present and those who are interested in this period will likely read with attention.
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Stephen List
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Base Understanding
Reviewed in the United States on 4 September 2011
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Democracy in Iran provides a good base to dive deeper into understanding the political history of Iran. The book covers the major events in Iran's past, focusing more on the last two centuries. If you are interested in Iran this book is a great place to start and quite a complement to Polk's, Understanding Iran.
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D. Harris
3.0 out of 5 stars Just a short note
Reviewed in the United States on 30 November 2010
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
My impression is that the author wants democracy to develop (further) in Iran, but may be too optimistic about its prospects -- at least in the short term, without clear plans on how to bring about progress.
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