Movement or Moment?: Exploring the Modern Struggle for Democracy in Iran
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In a time where democratic backsliding threatens the sanctity of our democratic strongholds, studies on the world’s would-be democracies have been placed on the back-burner. The Middle East has commonly been called a democracy desert: a region where the branches of democracy are incapable of taking root. Whether it be an inhospitable culture or the looming effects of colonial influence, the Middle East has existed in a democracy deficit since its inception following Sykes-Picot. Although semblances of democracy have taken place in various Middle Eastern countries, Iran has remained under authoritarian rule for centuries: from the Qajars to the Islamic regime. Despite wide-spread civil unrest, a lively civil society, and a diaspora who yearns for a democratic Iran, Iran has never democratized. Analyzing the two most modern pro-democracy movements in Iranian history, the 2009 Green Revolution and 2022 Women, Life, Freedom Movement, this paper seeks to explore why Iran has been unable to democratize.
Source: Berkeley Undergraduate Journal
DOI: 10.5070/b3.50657
Author: Nadia Kazempoor
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W6911054435
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