IS DEMOCRACY POSSIBLE IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN?

Misagh Parsa, Democracy in Iran: Why It Failed and How It Might Succeed (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England: Harvard U. Press, 2016) ("This book seeks to answer a question that has challenged theories of democratization: what factors determine whether democratization is more likely to be achieved through reform or revolution? It proposes a new framework for analyzing paths to democracy by specifying the relevant structural and process-related variables based on developments in other Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The framework is based on a comparative perspective that explains why South Korea succeeded in democratizing through reform, whereas others--such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Tunisia, an Egypt--could not achieve democracy without ousting their rulers. The framework applies the model to the Islamic Republic of Iran and illustrates alternative routes to democratization, with insights from other developing countries." "The Islamic Republic of Iran has certain exceptional ideological features and a unique political system but shares a number of economic and political characteristics and challenges with other developing countries, making it an intriguing case for this analysis. The book examines Iran's political conflicts and democratization struggles during the recent decades, explains the course of their failure, and proposes the likely route to democracy. The model suggests that the Islamic Republic is highly unlikely to democratize through political reform. The theocracy rescinded the civil liberties Iranian enjoyed before the revolution. The Islamic Republic's rulers failed to fulfill the revolutionary promises and generated multiple, irreconcilable contradictions and conflicts. These conflicts undermined support for the Islamic Republic and produced active and passive resistance among Iranians against the theocracy. Thus far, the Islamic regime has been unable to suppress Iranians' struggles for democratic rights. The Islamic Republic's intransigence and endless repression are highly likely to pave the way for a disruptive, revolutionary path to democracy." Id. at ix-x.).