false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg 22603 1 Today Iran is once again in the headlines. Reputed to be developing nuclear weapons, the future of Iraq's next-door neighbor is a matter of grave concern both for the stability of the region and for the safety of the global community. President George W. Bush labeled it part of the "Axis of Evil," and rails against the country's authoritarian leadership. Yet as Bush trumpets the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East, few note that Iran has one of the longest-running experiences with democracy in the region. 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, Gheissari and Nasr argue. The concept of democracy in Iran today may appear to be a reaction to authoritarianism, but it is an old idea with a complex history, one that is tightly interwoven with the main forces that have shaped Iranian society and politics, institutions, identities, and interests. Indeed, the demand for democracy first surfaced in Iran a century ago at the end of the Qajar period, and helped produce Iran's surprisingly liberal first constitution in 1906. Gheissari and Nasr seek to understand why democracy failed to grow roots and lost ground to an autocratic Iranian state. Why was democracy absent from the ideological debates of the 1960s and 1970s? Most important, why has it now become a powerful social, political, and intellectual force? How have modernization, social change, economic growth, and the experience of the revolution converged to make this possible? Gheissari and Nasr trace the fortunes of the democratic ideal from the inchoate demands for rule of law and constitutionalism of a century ago to today's calls for individual rights and civil liberties. In the process they provide not just a fresh look at Iran's politics but also a new understanding of the way in which democracy can develop in a Muslim country. 23621 15 6 2006 Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty total:9|5:2|4:5|3:1|2:1|1:0| 9 35 18 3 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 4 0 false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 24 20:37:04 -0800 2007 Mon Jul 06 13:34:09 -0700 2009 progress of 'democracy' in Iran. Being someone interested in geopolitics and history, it was a very educational book for me. From the revolution in earl...more...]]> 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 4 0 false Fri Feb 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 23:17:52 -0800 2009 Tue May 05 10:31:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 4 0 false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Mar 23 10:10:05 -0700 2007 Thu Apr 05 09:35:35 -0700 2007 more...]]> 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Sun Nov 01 21:42:20 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 01 21:42:20 -0800 2009 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 5 0 false Fri Oct 30 13:47:23 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 13:47:23 -0700 2009 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Thu Oct 01 11:03:53 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 11:03:53 -0700 2009 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 4 0 false Sat May 16 16:44:13 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 16:44:13 -0700 2009 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 5 0 false Wed May 06 15:09:11 -0700 2009 Fri May 08 10:49:49 -0700 2009 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Sun Sep 14 07:13:09 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 07:13:29 -0700 2008 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Wed Sep 03 15:40:41 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 15:40:41 -0700 2008 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Sun Jun 08 06:59:28 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 08 06:59:28 -0700 2008 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Wed May 21 08:18:18 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 08:18:18 -0700 2008 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Apr 30 10:52:22 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 10:52:44 -0700 2008 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 3 0 false Thu Mar 06 18:54:40 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 18:47:41 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 18:47:46 -0800 2008 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Thu Nov 29 15:41:42 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 29 15:41:46 -0800 2007 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 0 0 false Sun Jul 22 09:37:24 -0700 2007 Sun Jul 22 09:37:24 -0700 2007 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 2 0 false Wed Apr 25 15:16:17 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 25 15:16:17 -0700 2007 22603 0195189671 9780195189674 9 3 3.89 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167352026m/22603.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22603.Democracy_in_Iran_History_and_the_Quest_for_Liberty 4 0 false Sat Feb 24 22:12:00 -0800 2007 Sat Feb 24 22:12:00 -0800 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=22603