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Source: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/iranians-still-dont-want-an-islamic-republic
Iranians Still Don't Want an Islamic Republic
(National Interest) Ilan Berman - A new study from the Netherlands-based polling institute GAMAAN, conducted digitally last summer using internet circumvention tools, surveyed more than 20,000 Iranians and sheds light on Iran's direction in the years ahead. By a wide margin, Iranians see the country's current clerical system as bankrupt. Some 70% "oppose the continuation of the Islamic Republic." This opposition "is higher among the youth, urban residents, and the highly educated." 89% support democracy as an alternative form of government to the current clerical state, "a national consensus in favor of democracy." Still, 43% are "open to authoritarian rule by a strong individual leader." Iran's opposition, still deeply fragmented and politically disorganized, does not pose a serious challenge to the ruling clerical elite in the near future. The writer is Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council.