Guardianship and Democracy in Iran and Turkey

Karabekir Akkoyunlu is a lecturer at the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London, where he convenes courses on the politics of the Middle East, comparative politics and research methods. His research focuses on democratisation, autocratisation, hybrid regimes, militarism and civil-military relations. Before joining SOAS, he was a lecturer at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in São Paulo and a visiting scholar at the Institute of International Relations, University of São Paulo in Brazil, and a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz, in Austria. He is the co-editor of the special issue on ‘The Limits of Autocratisation: Actors and Institutions of Democratic Resistance and Opposition’ (Third World Quarterly, 2024) and of Exit from Democracy: Illiberal Governance in Turkey and Beyond (Routledge, 2018).

By using the concept of guardianship, this subtle and original book provides unique insights into contemporary Iranian and Turkish politics. It reveals the logic but also the fragility of hybrid regimes that divide power and sovereignty between 'the people' and elite guardians tasked with preserving the polity's core values.

• List of AcronymsPrefaceIntroductionPart I: Foundations1. Of Power and Legitimacy: The Idea of State in Iran and Turkey2. Atatürk and Khomeini: Political and Ideological Legacies of Charismatic FoundersPart II: Consolidation 3. Institutional Duality in the Islamic Republic of Iran4. Democracy Under Tutelage in TurkeyPart III: Contestation5. The Strangling of the Republican Pillar in Iran6. The Dismantling of the Kemalist Guardianship in Turkey Part IV: The Outcome7. The Rouhani Presidency and the Limits of Moderation8. Change and Continuity in the Making of Erdoğan's 'New Turkey'ConclusionBibliography