&quot;Democracy versus Tradition: An Analysis of the Political Thought of Opponents and Supporters of the Constitutional Revolution and Its Impact on the Coup of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar&quot;

Mostafavi Montazeri, Seyedmohamadjavad; Naghavi, Gholamreza; Abolhasani, Elahe; Ghaem Panah, Samad

doi:10.22034/fademo.2025.552973.1157

"Democracy versus Tradition: An Analysis of the Political Thought of Opponents and Supporters of the Constitutional Revolution and Its Impact on the Coup of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar"

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

seyedmohamadjavad mostafavi montazeri ¹

gholamreza naghavi ²

elahe abolhasani ²

samad ghaem panah ³

¹ PhD student in political science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Takestan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Iran

³ Assistant Professor of Political Science, Takestan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Iran

10.22034/fademo.2025.552973.1157

Abstract

The three-year reign of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar was filled with scenes of conflict and hostility between the monarchist institution on the one hand and the constitutionalists on the other, which led to the coup d'état of Mohammad Ali Shah. However, this event was not merely military, but rather the result of a deep confrontation between rival political ideas in this period. The present study answers the question of how the conflict between the idea of democracy and tradition paved the way for the coup. Using the historical-discursive method of Quintin Skinner, this study reconstructs the historical meanings of the concepts of "democracy" and "tradition" in the discourse of the conflicting parties, the constitutionalists and the traditionalists, and shows how these ideas were used as "discursive acts" to justify or counter the coup. The findings of this study show that: 1) the coup was the result of a discursive battle over political legitimacy - not simply a power struggle, 2) Mohammad Ali Shah, with the help of traditionalist thinking, justified the coup as a legitimate act to restore the "traditional system" by redefining concepts such as "system" and "sharia". As a result, constitutionalists legitimized their resistance by redefining "law", "democracy", and "equality".

Keywords

Coup

democracy

political thought

constitutionalism

traditionalism

Subjects