Houchang E. Chehabi – författare

Sultanistic regimes, as Juan Linz describes them, are authoritarian regimes based on personal ideology and personal favor to maintain the autocrat in power; there is little ideological basis for the rule except personal power. This volume of essays studies important sultantistic regimes in the Domanican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, and the Philippines. Part one contains two comparative essays, which discuss common characteristics of sultanistic regimes, compare them to totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, and trace common patterns for these regimes' rise and fall. Chehabi and Linz argue that sultanistic regimes do not offer favorable transitions to democracy, no matter what the person in power says. Part two applies Linz's model to country studies.

This collection of original chapters in honour of the distinguished historian Ervand Abrahamian addresses hitherto understudied topics in Iranian political, social, and cultural history from the early twentieth century to the present. The sixteen chapters fall into five categories all areas of study to which Ervand Abrahamian made a significant contribution which proceed from the global to the local: Part I looks at Iran's place in international politics in the early twentieth century; Part II considers key transitional periods in Iranian history; Part III focuses on national politics; Part IV examines intellectual history embedded in political change; and Part V explores social history, with an emphasis on cities. The book also includes an original interview with Ervand Abrahamian and a complete bibliography of Ervand Abrahamian's works.