Is Iran Democratizing? Reform at an Impasse

Issue Date October 2000
Volume 11
Issue 4
Page Numbers 114-128
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Once again, a reformist electoral victory has been followed by political setbacks. The key to understanding this paradoxical pattern lies in the unique theocratic constitutional structure of the Islamic Republic.

Further Reading

Volume 16, Issue 4

Iran’s Peculiar Election: The Struggle Against Sultanism

Given the unaccountable authority of the supreme leader, the Islamic Republic should be classified as a sultanistic regime. In such regimes, democratic change is more likely to come from nonviolent…

Volume 26, Issue 2

The Authoritarian Resurgence: Iran’s Paradoxical Regime

Iran’s authoritarianism is more flexible and more durable than its detractors would hope, yet more fragile and endangered than its defenders claim.

Volume 11, Issue 4

Is Iran Democratizing? Observations on Election Day

In hotly contested parliamentary elections, candidates supportive of President Khatami’s reforms won an overwhelming victory.