Iranian Political Science Association Research Letter of Political Science 1735790X 20 3 2025 08 23 A Sociological Analysis of the Fourth Wave of Democratization in Iran: The Reformist Era and the Principalist Era (1997–2013) A Sociological Analysis of the Fourth Wave of Democratization in Iran: The Reformist Era and the Principalist Era (1997–2013) 87 124 549 10.22034/ipsa.2025.549 FA Iraj Zarey Ph.D. Student in Political Sociology, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 0000-0001-7262-5622 Seyed Mostafa Abtahi Department of Political Science, Faculty of Political Science and International Relations, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 0009-0008-1607-6305 Majid Tavasoli Roknabadi Political Science group, Political Science and International Relations department, Science and Research Tehran branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 0000-0002-7746-364X Journal Article 2025 06 13 This research posits that Iran's fourth wave of democratization, during the Principalist era, faltered and reverted to authoritarianism, continuing a historical pattern. Framed by a critical rationality approach, the study's central question is: "Why did this fourth wave halt during its transition phase and revert?" Employing Actor-Centered Theories of Transition, a theoretical framework was constructed and hypotheses were deduced. These were then evaluated against empirical evidence within its historical context. The methodology is comparative historical, using the Reformist and Principalist eras as cases. These were interpreted through narrative analysis and causally explained via conjuncture analysis, which requires at least two cases. Data collection was documentary and library-based. Causal analysis identifies two conjunctural factors for reversion: the condition of elites and the existence of a crisis. Democratization halted under ideologically cohesive elites and reverted due to a lack of an institutionalized party system and low democratic legitimacy. While these findings confirm the hypotheses from the theoretical framework, they also reveal that the role of the crisis contradicted the framework's initial expectations. This research posits that Iran's fourth wave of democratization, during the Principalist era, faltered and reverted to authoritarianism, continuing a historical pattern. Framed by a critical rationality approach, the study's central question is: "Why did this fourth wave halt during its transition phase and revert?" Employing Actor-Centered Theories of Transition, a theoretical framework was constructed and hypotheses were deduced. These were then evaluated against empirical evidence within its historical context. The methodology is comparative historical, using the Reformist and Principalist eras as cases. These were interpreted through narrative analysis and causally explained via conjuncture analysis, which requires at least two cases. Data collection was documentary and library-based. Causal analysis identifies two conjunctural factors for reversion: the condition of elites and the existence of a crisis. Democratization halted under ideologically cohesive elites and reverted due to a lack of an institutionalized party system and low democratic legitimacy. While these findings confirm the hypotheses from the theoretical framework, they also reveal that the role of the crisis contradicted the framework's initial expectations.

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