Showing 9 results for Democratization
Volume 2, Issue 3 (6-2010)
Abstract
A great number of sociological studies on democratization emphasize on the role of social classes in democratic transitions and the consolidation of democracy. Some authors like Barrington Moore know bourgeoisie as the historical agent of democracy, and for the authors like Dietrich Rueschemeyer, the workers are agents of democracy. In this article, we argue for a new perspective on the role of social classes in democratization based on a comparative historical study of the experience of democracy in Iran (1941-1953), Turkey (1945-1960) and South Korea (1945-1961). We are going to show that there are no specified pre-supposed interests in democracy for any social class, but the interests are historical-situational constructs of the circumstances of period under investigation. Democracy based on such an analysis is not the function of historical action of a specified class, rather it is the consequence of power balance between the classes in a specific part of history. In addition, as a part of such a perspective, the article argues in favour of a structural explanation for democratic consolidation.
Volume 5, Issue 2 (3-2014)
Abstract
The contribution of internal and external factors on the operation of democracies is one of the most controversial debates in democratization studies. General rules about the role of internal and external variables on democracies, due to their distinctiveness and specific identities, are hard to be established. However, historical examination could result in analyzing effective mechanisms of the variables’ effects, and knowing that mechanisms can pave the way for providing statements that are more general. Through analyzing the effects of dependency and the world system of economy on Iran, Turkey and Korea in a historical span of 1800 to 1961, this article attempts to explain the conditions of economic instability and failure of democratic consolidation in them from 1941 to 1961. The paper shows evidences on how the operation of democracies is shaped by the historical structure of the world system, their own path of history, and the interaction of internal and external factors.
Volume 6, Issue 1 (4-2014)
Abstract
Abstract The subject of this paper is analysis of the process of democratization in Afghanistan within the time period of 1907-2008 AD. The article claims that over the past one hundred years (1907-2008 AD), the Afghans in four historical periods of "Constitutionalist Movement" (1907-1928 AD) , "The Democracy Period" (1946-1953AD) , "The Decade of Constitution" (1963-1973 AD) and " The Interim Government , The Transitional Government, and The Islamic Republic" ( 2001-2008 AD), have made efforts towards the democratization of their society’s political and social relations. However, "democracy" has not been established in Afghanistan yet. To prove this claim, the question of “Why democratization process in Afghanistan has not led to democracy?” has been presented. Later, after a critical argument about democratic theory, the causal provisions of “socio-economic development", "civil society", "a model of democratic political elite" and "the role of international or external factors" have been proposed to explain the problem of the historical period. Historical comparative and historical narrative agreement methods have been used in this research. The experimental findings imply that in case of socio-economic development, establishment of civil society and democratic relations between political elites and positive role of external and international agents in Afghanistan, democratization will be established in this country.
Volume 9, Issue 2 (6-2017)
Abstract
This research attempts to explain the democratic consolidation in Iran and Turkey. To this end, the following research question is proposed: why Iran has stopped in transition phase and Turkey has moved toward consolidation.The theoretical model is extracted from the theories of democratization, consolidation of democracy, civil society and political parties. Based on the theoritical model, the hyphothesis of article is formulated: the institionalized political parties are the necessary condition for democratic consolidation. The institionalized political parties would reduce non-civilian actors and activities and is fertile ground to spreading democratic values such as toleration, moderation, trust and cooperation. The method in this article is historical comparative study. According to the emprical evidence, difference between the level of political parties’ institutionalization in Iran and Turkey has produced different results in terms of democratic consolidation in the two countries. In Turkey, since early 2000s, especially after the victory of the Justice and Development Party in the 2002 parliamentary elections, moving towards democratic consolidation phase has facilated, whereas the weakness of political parties’ institutionalization has caused democratization in Iran to cease in transition zone.
Volume 11, Issue 0 (3-2007)
Abstract
In the past decades, different regions of Africa, particularly West African countries, witnessed intense regional crises and disputes. Several mechanisms including crisis management have been used in order to reduce the intensity of these crises. This article examines the impacts and the consequences of democratization in security sectors. It maintains that providing opportunities for democratic spaces and transition of failed states to governments based upon democratic elections could enhance an avenue for reform in security sectors. But the democratization procedures have not led to a democratic management of security sectors in all of the West African countries.
In this research, West African countries were categorized based upon their achievements in reforming the security sectors. In fact, the efforts to integrate different regional rules and the activities of non-governmental sectors could lead to good governance even in security sectors both in national and regional levels. But the interesting point is that this would not necessarily bring fundamental changes in these countries. Therefore, it is necessary that a comprehensive program should be implemented in both national and sub-regional levels to bring democratic reform in managing the security sectors in West Africa.
Despite slow progress in democratization in some Western African countries, there has been some success. In this article, the status of each country, the nature of their regimes, their capabilities and the level of reform in security sectors were discussed in details.
Masoud Ghaffari, Amir Masoud Sharamnia,
Volume 12, Issue 1 (1-2005)
Abstract
Globalization and democracy have become the most debated issues throughout the world, which, no doubt also influence Iran. This paper highlights these phenomena with respect to Iran but takes up the issue through various description and features presented by the con-temporary socio- political thinkers and economists. Considering globalization, although the subject matter is very recent but Iran has been experiencing this phenomenon with the emergence of modern communication networks and economic growth. The democratic proc-ess had started early in 19th century but was thoroughly suppressed by the despotic regime. However, the globalization trends in 1990s have affected most of the countries and Iran too has experienced the changing mood of the people. Present study focuses on the various as-pects of globalization and its influences over democracy during post- revolutionary period.
Volume 12, Issue 2 (2-2021)
Abstract
Abstract
This study compares democratization in Iran and Turkey during the periods from 1906 to 1913. We show that Iranian and Ottoman society experienced the wave of democratization in 1906 and 1908 respectively. We argue that although Iran and Turkey established some fundamental requirements of democratic system such as parliamentary election, Majlis and constitutional law, after a very short time, the countries returned to authoritarianism. Our argument is that the dynamics of the authoritarianism revolve around strategic interactions between the military actors and political elites in the regime and the foreign powers. The strategic choices made by these groups determined the main process of the authoritarianism. This study uses comparative historical analysis. Methodologically,the comparative historical analysis focuses on both historically interpretive and causally analytic.The findings indicate that the return to authoritarianism in Iran and Tukey is a result of the combination of three causal conditions, the suppressive strategy of political actors such as the dissolution of parliament or the dissolution of opposition parties and the military intervention in politics (military coup or martial law or military suppression: kill or arrest) and the political-military intervention of foreign actors in domestic politics such as support for the authoritarian regime or the dissolution of parliament or the suppression of internal actors:kill or arrest.
Volume 13, Issue 2 (3-2022)
Abstract
This paper examines the role of loya Jirga as a traditional civil society. The problem addressed by this study is defined in term of mismatch between actions of Loya Jirga as a traditional civil society and civil society functions; sometimes Loya Jirga has contributed to the process of democratization and occasionally assisted authoritarian rulers in Afghanistan. The paper aims to answer the question: what conditions make Loya Jirga contribute to the process of democratization in Afghanistan? Conceptual framework model used in the research is composed of socioeconomic underdevelopment, tribalism and limitation of Loya Jirga’s democratic action. The empirical findings indicate that if the rate of economic development increases and tribalism, as an anti-democratic political culture, is weak, Loyal Jirga contributes to the democratization in Afghanistan. It means that Loya Jirga has an institutional capacity to democratize the country, however, the nature of its functions depends on its economic, social and political contexts.
Ali Saei,
Volume 23, Issue 2 (4-2016)
Abstract
This article attempts to explain democratization in Iran through an elite-oriented approach. According to this approach, the success and failure of democratization depends on the political elite strategy. My argument is that the fate of democratization is determined by elite strategies. If their strategy is considered suppressive, an authoritarian cycle will take place in the transition stage, but if the political elite strategy is considered non-suppressive, the index of democratic transition increases. In this study, the political elites are divided into two groups: conservatives and reformists. The analysis method is historical-narrative technique. The empirical findings indicate that whenever the hardliners inside the government are stronger than the opposition groups, they constrain the democratization by suppressing the opposition (moderates and reformists), which leads to a decrease in the index of democratic transition, as exemplified in the 13th parliamentary in 1941. Whenever the reformers are stronger than the conservatives and they are allowed to participate in elections, the index of democratic transition tends to increase, as shown in the 17th parliament under the rule of Mușaddiq and the 7th presidential elections after the 1979 Revolution. The data demonstrates that democratization is still fragile in Iran and it’s the fate would be determined by the relative power of reformists and conservatives.
As a result, I argue that Iran’s democratic transition is fragile and it’s the fate is determined by the relative power of reformists and conservatives.
