A Study of the Obstacles to Political Development in Iran (Case Study: Pahlavi II Reign)

This paper intends to find answers to these questions: What process has political development, i.e. political participation and competition, gone through during the Pahlavi II period in Iran and what ups and downs has it experienced? What serious obstacles and challenges has it faced during this period of political development in the country? The answers to these questions lie in the political sociology, so we resorted to theories by N. Chandhoke, B. Moore, S. P. Huntington, T. Skocpol, and G. Luciani on the weakness of civil society and the rentier state, as the serious obstacles to and challenges of the political development. We finally hypothesized that the more government monopoly on oil income and the weaker the structure of civil society, the less will be the probability of realization of political development. The hypothesis was analyzed and tested with the assistance of valid historical documents and statistical evidence. The results indicate that at any period the government has turned into a rentier state, being independent and needless of public taxes and enjoying power concentration, the circle for political participation and competition has been narrowed down, taking away any chance for political development.