The Formation of Democratic Party over the First Confrontation between Tradition and Modernity in Iran

Giving a clear picture of the future necessitates knowing brilliantly the past. Knowing different movements and consequently analyzing political parties is among the most important issues in historical studies and plays a fundamental role in identifying the weaknesses of the political life of every country in order for accurate planning for the future. The left movement in Iran started at the beginning of the constitution era due to the intellectual confrontation of Iranians with the West. Its initial development was the result of the confrontation of modernity and tradition. The formation of Democratic Party was the result of the confrontations. So, studying the intellectual and political backgrounds of this party is so important for knowing the problems and political divide that the party faced. This study tried to see that what issues resulted in the emergence of social-democratic thought in religious Iran, where had not had the appropriate ground for presenting leftist tendencies, and what effects the feedbacks of the conditions had on the functioning of the Democratic Party. This study is based on the hypothesis that the grounds of the formation of the Democratic Party that was according to social-democratic thoughts were the confrontation between tradition and modernity in Iran. This movement seems to be the first organized action of modern thought against tradition in Iran.