Democratic transitions and the Weber/Freud connection: The cases of the First French Republic (1789--1799), Weimar Germany (1919--1934), and Islamic Iran (1979--present)

Transitions from authoritarian/totalitarian forms of rule to democratic ones have become the subject of renewed interest. This ran be traced in large measure to the collapse of communism and the growth of democracy world-wide. Some have seen it as a triumph for democracy, while some regard it as proof of the Western world's superior economic practices. Others simply believe it to be one more in a series of transitions and counter-transitions.;The dissertation approaches transitions by making reference both to the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud and the sociological theories of Max Weber. This approach is employed because there are a number of shortcomings to traditional approaches, most of which relate to the ongoing agent/structure debate within political science discourse, various levels of analysis (micro versus macro), the ways in which values are addressed, and the inability of scholars to uncover one consistent pattern of change. The dissertation seeks to solve these problems by suggesting an alternative framework. It is argued that existing political and social systems are of two main types, parental or sibling. Parental systems are ones which are strictly hierarchical, and the relationship between ruler and ruled resembles the parent/child relationship. Sibling systems are those based on myths of equality and unity, and resemble the relations of brothers and sisters. Historically, these kinds of political/social systems have been based on the patriarchal household. The two main types of rule historically have been paternalism and fraternalism. It is argued that transitions involve a fundamental social transformation from one form of rule to another. Thus transitional political systems are ones which are an admixture of paternalism and fraternalism. The three selected case studies are France 1789--1799, Germany 1918--1933, and Iran 1979--present.;Each of these cases are regarded as transitional because of the mixed character of their political and social systems. At the macro-level, the mixed character of these political systems (paternalism and fraternalism) is reflected in the values of both the elite and counter-elite, in the respective constitutions, in the role played by the revolutionary leader, and in the various factions vying for power, etc. At the micro-level, the mixed character is reflected in family structure, voting behavior, as well as demographic change. Because these systems are transitional, they are inherently unstable, and thus prone to disintegration and backsliding into paternalism. This occurred in both the French and German cases, and, it is postulated, is likely to occur in Iran.