The Quest for Democracy in Iran

The Quest for Democracy in Iran PDF Author: Fakhreddin Azimi
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674057066
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 511

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Book Description
The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 launched Iran as a pioneer in a broad-based movement to establish democratic rule in the non-Western world. In a book that provides essential context for understanding modern Iran, Fakhreddin Azimi traces a century of struggle for the establishment of representative government. The promise of constitutional rule was cut short in the 1920s with the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty. Reza Shah, whose despotic rule Azimi deftly captures, maintained the façade of a constitutional monarch but greeted any challenge with an iron fist: “I will eliminate you,” he routinely barked at his officials. In 1941, fearful of losing control of the oil-rich region, the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate but allowed Mohammad Reza to succeed his father. Though promising to abide by the constitution, the new Shah missed no opportunity to undermine it. The Anglo-American–backed coup of 1953, which ousted reformist premier Mohammed Mosaddeq, dealt a blow to the constitutionalists. The Shah’s repressive policies and subservience to the United States radicalized both secular and religious opponents, leading to the revolution of 1979. Azimi argues that we have fundamentally misunderstood this event by characterizing it as an “Islamic” revolution when it was in reality the expression of a long-repressed desire for popular sovereignty. This explains why the clerical rulers have failed to counter the growing public conviction that the Islamic Republic, too, is impervious to political reform—and why the democratic impulse that began with the Constitutional Revolution continues to be a potent and resilient force.

The Quest for Democracy in Iran

The Quest for Democracy in Iran PDF Author: Fakhreddin Azimi
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674057066
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 511

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 launched Iran as a pioneer in a broad-based movement to establish democratic rule in the non-Western world. In a book that provides essential context for understanding modern Iran, Fakhreddin Azimi traces a century of struggle for the establishment of representative government. The promise of constitutional rule was cut short in the 1920s with the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty. Reza Shah, whose despotic rule Azimi deftly captures, maintained the façade of a constitutional monarch but greeted any challenge with an iron fist: “I will eliminate you,” he routinely barked at his officials. In 1941, fearful of losing control of the oil-rich region, the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate but allowed Mohammad Reza to succeed his father. Though promising to abide by the constitution, the new Shah missed no opportunity to undermine it. The Anglo-American–backed coup of 1953, which ousted reformist premier Mohammed Mosaddeq, dealt a blow to the constitutionalists. The Shah’s repressive policies and subservience to the United States radicalized both secular and religious opponents, leading to the revolution of 1979. Azimi argues that we have fundamentally misunderstood this event by characterizing it as an “Islamic” revolution when it was in reality the expression of a long-repressed desire for popular sovereignty. This explains why the clerical rulers have failed to counter the growing public conviction that the Islamic Republic, too, is impervious to political reform—and why the democratic impulse that began with the Constitutional Revolution continues to be a potent and resilient force.

Liberia

Liberia PDF Author: J. Gus Liebenow
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description


Democracy in Iran

Democracy in Iran PDF Author: Ali Gheissari
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195396960
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
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, and Gheissari and Nasr seek to understand why democracy failed to grow roots and lost ground to an autocratic Iranian state.

The Quest for Good Governance

The Quest for Good Governance PDF Author: Alina Mungiu-Pippidi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110711392X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
A passionate examination of why international anti-corruption fails to deliver results and how we should understand and build good governance.

The EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy

The EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy PDF Author: Helene Sjursen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135707197
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
This book reorients the study of European foreign and security policy towards the question of democracy. Blending insights from international relations and democratic theory, it aims to enhance our understanding of the issues at stake. The main structures, the institutional setting and the procedures that govern decision-making in this domain are examined. In this way, the book supplements studies with a more traditional focus on the substance of foreign policy. What are the democratic challenges in this distinct field of policy-making? The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU) is usually assumed to be intergovernmental. Contributors to this book examine the extent to which a move beyond intergovernmentalism has taken place, how this manifests itself, and what may be the democratic implications. While the EU’s international outlook testifies to a quest for democracy, the institutions and procedures that govern decision-making are found wanting. This book was originally published as a special issue of Journal of European Public Policy.

The Arsenal of Democracy

The Arsenal of Democracy PDF Author: Albert J. Baime
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547719280
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
Chronicles Detroit's dramatic transition from an automobile manufacturing center to a highly efficient producer of World War II airplanes, citing the essential role of Edsel Ford's rebellion against his father, Henry Ford.

When Wall Street Met Main Street

When Wall Street Met Main Street PDF Author: Julia C. Ott
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674050657
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
The financial crisis that began in 2008 has made Americans keenly aware of the enormous impact Wall Street has on the economic well-being of the nation and its citizenry. How did financial markets and institutions-commonly perceived as marginal and elitist at the beginning of the twentieth century-come to be seen as the bedrock of American capitalism? How did stock investment-once considered disreputable and dangerous-first become a mass practice? Julia Ott tells the story of how, between the rise of giant industrial corporations and the Crash of 1929, the federal government, corporations, and financial institutions campaigned to universalize investment, with the goal of providing individual investors with a stake in the economy and the nation. As these distributors of stocks and bonds established a broad, national market for financial securities, they debated the distribution of economic power, the proper role of government, and the meaning of citizenship under modern capitalism. By 1929, the incidence of stock ownership had risen to engulf one quarter of American households in the looming financial disaster. Accordingly, the federal government assumed responsibility for protecting citizen-investors by regulating the financial securities markets. By recovering the forgotten history of this initial phase of mass investment and the issues surrounding it, Ott enriches and enlightens contemporary debates over economic reform.

Schooling, Democracy, and the Quest for Wisdom

Schooling, Democracy, and the Quest for Wisdom PDF Author: Robert V Bullough
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813599911
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
A tremendous amount of energy has been expended by organizations to coordinate "partner schools" for teacher education. Bullough and Rosenberg examine the concept of partnering through various lenses and they address what they think are the major issues that need to be, but rarely are, discussed by thousands of educators.

Responsible Parties

Responsible Parties PDF Author: Frances Rosenbluth
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300241054
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
How popular democracy has paradoxically eroded trust in political systems worldwide, and how to restore confidence in democratic politics In recent decades, democracies across the world have adopted measures to increase popular involvement in political decisions. Parties have turned to primaries and local caucuses to select candidates; ballot initiatives and referenda allow citizens to enact laws directly; many places now use proportional representation, encouraging smaller, more specific parties rather than two dominant ones.Yet voters keep getting angrier.There is a steady erosion of trust in politicians, parties, and democratic institutions, culminating most recently in major populist victories in the United States, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. Frances Rosenbluth and Ian Shapiro argue that devolving power to the grass roots is part of the problem. Efforts to decentralize political decision-making have made governments and especially political parties less effective and less able to address constituents’ long-term interests. They argue that to restore confidence in governance, we must restructure our political systems to restore power to the core institution of representative democracy: the political party.

Kenya's Quest for Democracy

Kenya's Quest for Democracy PDF Author: Makau Mutua
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Tracing the trajectory of postcolonial politics, Makau Mutua maps the political forces that have shaped contemporary Kenya. He also critically explores efforts on the part of both civil society and the political opposition to reform the state. Analyzing the tortuous efforts since independence to create a sustainable, democratic state, he uses the struggle over constitutional reform as a window for understanding the larger struggles confronting Kenyan society.