Political Modernisation and the Constitutionalist Merchants

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Abstract

The victory of constitutionalism was the first stage of forming modern government in Iran. It is of paramount importance to know how the activists understood of the concept and aims of constitutionalism. Merchants were one of the most effective social classes in the process of victory of constitutionalism in Iran. The main question in this survey is, what are the specifications of the political regime that emerged from political modernisation in Iran? The author response is, in merchants’ perspective, the constitutional government and the governance based on law were the same. In this respect, restricting despotism with law, responsibility of the king and his government can solve the Iran’s problems. The approach of this article is interpretative and historical sociology.