The paradox of political order and political democracy in the second Pahlavi period

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran

Abstract

Objective: The essence of politics and political sociology is based on how unequal power relations between rulers and subordinates are regulated. This is exactly what justifies the necessity of political order and its continuation or abolition. Therefore, the present study considers the negative and paradoxical relationship between the two concepts of "democracy" and "political order" as the most important reason for the inability of the second Pahlavi regime to reproduce "legitimate political order" and the formation of the Islamic Revolution. The question is why, despite the existence of democratic legal institutions in the second Pahlavi period, the political stability of the government did not have legitimacy?
Methodology: The present study was reviewed using a qualitative research method with a historical institutionalist approach and the data were collected through a library-documentary method and the data were analyzed using the Thomas Nigel theoretical framework entitled " "Conflict of personal interests with impersonal interests" has taken place at the political level.
Results: The formation of unequal power relations in the second Pahlavi regime, from 1332 onwards, took on a dual and contradictory nature; In such a way that the conflict between personal interests (personal interests of the Shah) and impersonal interests (collective-rational political institutions) was the most fundamental factor that caused the power relations in the second Pahlavi period to turn to illegitimate power.
Conclusion: The government's tendency to personalize power through conflict with legal-collective institutions has undermined democratic stability and, consequently, authoritarianism based on illegitimate and unstable political order. In a way, the second Pahlavi regime can be defined and analyzed in the context of the concept of "fragile state", which is both the product of the conflict of interests sought by Thomas Nigel and the intensification of the conflict between personal interests and collective interests at the political level.

Keywords

References

Abrahamian, Yervand (2012), Iran between two revolutions, from the Constitution to the Islamic Revolution, Tehran: Markaz Publishing.
- Abdi, Tawhid; Zolfaghari, Hossein (2013), "The relationship between law enforcement and political stability", Journal of Social Science Research, No. 59.
-­ Ahmadi, Hamid (1997), "Political Stability, Democracy and Civil Society in Heterogeneous Societies (Theory of Democracy Based on Lebanese Consensus and Experience)", Political Science; Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, No. 12.
- Akhavan Kazemi, Bahram (1999), "Parties, Political Stability and Security", Journal of Strategic Studies No. 4.
- Azghandi, Alireza (2013), History of Political and Social Developments in Iran, Volume 2 of Politics and Government in Iran 1320-1357, Tehran: Samat Publishing.
- Bashirieh, Hossein (2006), "Transition to Democracy from the Perspective of Political Mobilization", Journal of the Faculty of Law and Political Science No. 71.
- Bashirieh, Hossein (2009), Government and Revolution in Iran, Translator: Mahmoud Rafi, Tehran: Maniahnar Publishing.
- Brooke, Lothar et al. (2015), Fragile Governments: A Sociology of War and Conflict in the Modern World, translated by Ahmad Rashidi, Tehran: Amirkabir Publications.
- Brooker, Paul (2005), Non-Democratic Regimes, translated by Alireza Samiei Esfahani, Tehran: Kavir Publishing.
- Chrisberg, Lewis and Dayton Na, Bruce W (2016), From Violence to Democracy, Translator: Asgar Ghahramanpour, Tehran: Joyandeh Publishing.
- Faraskhah, Maghsoud (2001), "Two Centuries Challenge of Development and Democracy in Iran", Journal of Political-Economic Information, No. 3.
- Finer, H. (1932), The Theory Practice of Modern Government 2 vols, London: Methuen.
- Foran, Jan (1998), Fragile Resistance: A History of Social Developments in Iran from Safavid to the Post-Revolutionary Years, Translator; Ahmad Tadayon, Tehran: Rasa Cultural Services.
- Francesco, Ronald E. (2015), The Pathology of Emerging States, translated by the Vice Chancellor for Research and Production of Science, Tehran: Faculty of Information Publications.
- Homayoun Katozian, Mohammad Ali (1993), "Democracy, Dictatorship, Responsibility of the Nation", Journal of Political-Economic Information, No. 67.
- Huntington, Samuel (1991), "Political order in societies undergoing change", translated by Mohsen Thalasi, Tehran, Alam Publishing.
- Khajeh Sarvi, Gholamreza (2002), "Political Competition and Political Stability at the Top of Constitutionalism", Journal of Epistemological Studies at Islamic University, No. 4.
-. Madani, Seyed Jalaluddin (1983), Contemporary Political History of Iran, Qom: Islamic Publications Office.
- Moradi Joo, Ali Jan (2009), Groups of Power in the Political Structure of the Second Pahlavi Period, Tehran Publications: Etedal.
- Mousavi, Vahid (2003), "Development and Democracy", Journal of Research Index, No. 25-26.
- Nigel, Thomas (2020), Bias and Equality, translated by Javad Heidari, Tehran: Farhang Nashr-e No.
- Nowruzi, Noor Mohammad et al. (2003), The Challenge of Legitimacy and Reconstruction of Political Order in the Middle East, Tehran: Noor Institute for Thought-Makers Studies.
- Oliver, D. (1991), Government in the United Kingdom: The Search for Accountability, Effectiveness and Citizenship, Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
- Pahlavi, Mohammad Reza (1967), Mission for My Homeland, Tehran: Translation and Book Publishing Company.
- Paknia, Mahboubeh (2003), "Variables affecting the growth of democracy", Journal of Public Law, No. 10.
- Qaragazloo, Mohammad (2008), The Thought of Political Democracy, Tehran: Negah Publications.
- Qaisari, Ali (2004), "The Discussion of Democracy in Iran", Irannameh Magazine, No. 84.
- Ruhollah Khomeini (2006), Sahifa Imam, Tehran, Imam Khomeini Publishing House.
- Sadeghi et al. (2009), “Analysis of the Challenge of Separation of Powers in the Second Pahlavi Period; Case Study: Interpretation of Article 82 of the Constitutional Amendment ", Journal of Historical Research, No. 42.
- Sariol-Qalam, Mahmoud (1999), "Political Development and Political Stability", Journal of Political and Economic Information, No. 145-146.
- Sariol-Qalam, Mahmoud (2016), Iranian Authoritarianism in the Pahlavi Era, Tehran: Gandhi Publishing.
- Saunders, David (2001), Patterns of Political Instability, Tehran, Translation and Publisher: Research Institute for Strategic Studies.
- Zonis, Marvin (1991), Royal Defeat, Translator: Abbas Mokhber, Tehran: New Plan Publishing.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics