Creating Local Democracy in Iran: State Building and the Politics of Decentralization (English and English Edition)

Empirically rich and theoretically informed, this book is an innovative analysis of political decentralization under the Islamic Republic of Iran. Drawing upon Kian Tajbakhsh's twenty years of experience working with and researching local government in Iran, it uses original data and insights to explain how local government operates in towns and cities as a form of electoral authoritarianism. With a combination of historical, political, and financial field research, it explores the multifaceted dimensions of local power and how various ideologically opposed actors shaped local government as an integral component of authoritarian state building. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how local government serves to undermine democratization and consolidate the Islamist regime. As Iran's cities and towns grow and develop, their significance will only increase, and this study is vital to understanding their politics, administration and influence. List of Figures List of Tables Preface: Stumbling on Local Democracy (My Personal Journey) Acknowledgments Overview of the Book List of Abbreviations Launching Local Democracy Reshaping the State: Political Decentralization Comes to Iran in the 1990s Launching Municipal Government, 1999–2003 Arguing for Local Democracy Reformists, Local Democracy, and Civil Society: Carrying the Torch of the Anjumans in the 1906 Constitutional Revolution Efficiency in Governance: Technocratic Discourse The Theocratic and Islamist Discourse on the Shura Blocking Local Democracy The Rocky Path from Elections to Democracy City Planning and the Challenges of Democratic Governance Financing Local Democracy Geopolitics and the Limits of International Municipal Cooperation What of the Future of Local Democracy? Index Empirically rich and theoretically informed, this book is an innovative analysis of how local government in Iran's cities and towns undermines democratization and consolidates the Islamist electoral authoritarian regime. It uses original data to deepen our understandings of comparative politics, economic development, and democratization. An innovative study of the political decentralization of Iran and the failure of elected local government to democratize the authoritarian regime