Creating Local Democracy in Iran

'Kian Tajbakhsh's study of local government under the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on careful and painstaking analysis of administrative and legal documents and is unmatched by any in current Iranian history.' Said Amir Arjomand, State University of New York 'This deeply personal and academically rigorous account of the efforts to advance political decentralization in Iran raises critical questions for scholars of governance and democracy. By documenting how decentralization was as likely to be embraced by supporters of centralized state power as by reform advocates or even pragmatic technocrats, we are shown the complexities inherent in building democracy from the ground up.' Diane E. Davis, Harvard University 'Kian Tajbakhsh's understanding of Iran is manifest on every page of this book. He convincingly argues, much to his own discontent, how the authoritarian regime consolidates its rule through political decentralization. His work is important for anyone interested in local democracy - a powerful read.' Peter Knip, Director of VNG International 'Kian Tajbakhsh beautifully documents the tragedy of municipal democracy in Iran, from its hopeful beginnings in the mid-1990s to its defeat a decade later. Tajbakhsh was both a scholarly observer of the democratization movement and a participant, whose detention in Iran delayed this long-awaited book for years.' Charles Kurzman, University of North Carolina