Daniel Brumberg is Associate Professor of Government and Co-Director of Democracy and Governance Studies at Georgetown University and a Special Advisor to the United States Institute of Peace. His books include Reinventing Khomeini: The Struggle for Reform in Iran, Moyen Orient: L'Enjeu Democratique, and Islam and Democracy in the Middle East (coedited with Larry Diamond and Marc Plattner). Farideh Farhi is an Independent Scholar and Affiliate Graduate Faculty at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Her publications include States and Urban-Based Revolutions: Iran and Nicaragua.

"This volume provides an overview of political, social, economic and ideological trends in Iran, touching on topics including education, the role of the Supreme Leader, the rule of law and human rights. Vol. 59, 2 2017"—Survival"Offers a realistic, nuanced, and perceptive analysis of Iran's complex and evolving political system. . . . This book would be appropriate as required or recommended reading for any courses dealing with the Islamic Republic of Iran or with the politics of the Middle East, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels."—Mohsen Milani, author of The Making of Iran's Islamic Revolution"By a wide margin, this book is the most sophisticated treatment of the internal dynamics and paradoxes of Iranian politics that I know of. The nuance, precision, insight, and details of the ebb and flow of the Iranian public sphere are what make this book truly unique. . . . The introduction is magisterial in terms of its depth, scope and objectivity. . . . The chapters flow well together and they are organized in an effective manner."—Nader Hashemi, co-author of The Syria Dilemma

• Note on TransliterationIntroduction: Politics of Contention and Conciliation in Iran's Semi-AutocracyDaniel Brumberg and Farideh FarhiPART I. The Contested Terrain1. Economic Privatization, Factional Politics, and Regime TransformationPayam Mohseni2. Social Welfare Policies and the Dynamics of Elite and Popular ContentionKevan Harris3. Education as Public Good or Private Resource: Accommodation and Demobilization in Iran's University System. Shervin MalekzadehPART II. Institutional Evolution4. The Office of the Supreme Leader: Epicenter of a TheocracyMehrzad Boroujerdi and Kourosh Rahimkhani5. Electoral Politics, Power, and Prospects for ReformYasmin Alem PART III. Political and Ideological Challenges6. The Rule of Law and Conflict in the Reform EraMehrangiz Kar and Azadeh Pourzand7. The Green Movement and Political Change in IranFatemeh Haghighatjoo8. "This Government Is Neither Islamic nor a Republic": Responses to the 2009 Post-Election CrackdownShadi MokhtariEpilogueDaniel Brumberg and Farideh FarhiSelected BibliographyContributorsIndex