Is Iran Democratizing? A Comparativist’s Perspective

Issue Date October 2000
Volume 11
Issue 4
Page Numbers 129-134
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The uneasy accommodation of competing visions of authority that has characterized Iran’s political system since 1979 is a familiar phenomenon in the Middle East and elsewhere.

About the Author

Daniel Brumberg is associate professor of government and director of Democracy and Governance Studies at Georgetown University, and a senior nonresident fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED).

View all work by Daniel Brumberg

Further Reading

Volume 16, Issue 4

Iran’s Peculiar Election: Chinese Dreams, Persian Realities

Basic demographic and socioeconomic factors in Iran are favorable to democratization. The mullahs may hope to stave off democratic change by emulating the Chinese model, but this strategy is doomed…

Volume 20, Issue 4

Iran in Ferment: The Green Wave

Iran’s massive protest movement against June’s electoral coup is now moving into a new phase. What are its prospects?

Volume 11, Issue 4

Is Iran Democratizing? The Role of the Intellectuals

The “Fourth Generation” of Iranian intellectuals has a vital role to play in strengthening civil society and fostering democratization.