Is Iran Democratizing? The Role of the Intellectuals

Issue Date October 2000
Volume 11
Issue 4
Page Numbers 135-138
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The “Fourth Generation” of Iranian intellectuals has a vital role to play in strengthening civil society and fostering democratization.

About the Author

Ramin Jahanbegloo is head of the Department of Research on Contemporary Thought at the Cultural Research Bureau in Tehran. His books include Conversations with Isaiah Berlin (1991), Gandhi: Aux sources de la nonviolence (1998), and Iran and Modernity (2000). During 2001–2002 he was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the International Forum for Democratic Studies in Washington, D.C.

View all work by Ramin Jahanbegloo

Further Reading

Volume 14, Issue 1

The Deadlock in Iran: Constitutional Constraints

The vast obstacles to democratic reformism include basic provisions in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic itself.

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 16, Issue 4

Iran’s Peculiar Election: The Role of Ideology

The election results reflect less what voters want than the ideological dynamics that shape the behavior of factions within the regime.