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Book Review - Iran: Theocracy vs. Democracy
(Wall Street Journal) Reuel Marc Gerecht - Misagh Parsa's Democracy in Iran: Why It Failed and How It Might Succeed analyzes the titanic struggle underway in Iran between theocracy and democracy. Along the way, the author shows why gradual reform - the leitmotif for Western supporters of "pragmatic" Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and of the Obama administration's nuclear deal - is unlikely. The book is a comprehensive refutation of the Obama administration's hopes that increasing commerce with Iran would moderate the regime and that it was safe to put an expiration date on the regulation of Iran's nuclear program. Parsa, a professor of sociology at Dartmouth, argues convincingly that Iran is moving toward greater internal oppression and foreign wars. At the same time, a theocratic regime has made Shiites less observant: Few attend the ever-shrinking supply of functioning mosques where fewer and fewer young men want to become clerics. In 1980, 60.7% of the deputies in the Majles (parliament) were clerics. After the 2016 elections, their number had declined to 5.5%. The writer is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.