The Internal Power Structure of the Court of Pahlavi II

Making use of political sociology and focusing on the structure of power in the court of Pahlavi II, the researcher intends to find out the answer to this question: “What kind of people, groups, or organizations comprised the power structure of Pahlavi II?” While the power structure in Iran seems to have been person-oriented and centralized, the researcher basically hypothesizes that it has been influenced by subgroups and individuals in the court. As long as this kind of power structure used to exist in the court, the influence of informal groups could be quite natural. The researcher found out that power structure was quite centralized and autocratic in the era of Pahlavi II. The structure was designed so centrally that all power was eventually in the hands of Shah and he stood at the top of the power pyramid. The ruling elites got their power from Shah. The closer they were to Shah, the stronger they were. Therefore, individuals were more influential than institutes because certain people were more reliable to Shah than institutes.