Authoritarian Survival: Iran's Republic of Repression

Although democracy spread throughout the world during the latter part of the twentieth century, a number of countries remain highly authoritarian. To understand authoritarianism's survival, analysts must examine the nature of these regimes, the social movements that rise to challenge them, and the likelihood that transformation will be revolutionary. This article argues that the persistence of the Iran's theocracy stems from a confluence of factors: repression of all independent political organizations; the instigation of external conflicts to provoke internal cohesion; shifting ideological claims and outright deception; and the absence of an alternative, unifying revolutionary contender or coalition, not to mention the ideological and political splits that divide the opposition.