But even if the regime collapses, Boston College Associate Professor and current Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellow Ali Kadivar says the prospects for a near-term democratic future for Iran are dim. The same is true if the regime survives, he says. “Neither trajectory is likely to produce democratic consolidation,” he wrote in a recent essay titled: “The Fantasy of Liberation by War.” Kadivar, who has written in recent months about strategies the Iranian pro-democracy movement might successfully deploy, talks to hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer about how the war has changed the political equation in Tehran.
Mohammad Ali Kadivar is a Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University and an Associate Professor of Sociology and International Studies at Boston College. He studies the dynamics of social movements. His work grows out of his experience as a participant-observer of the pro-democracy movement in Iran, but his research agenda explores these issues on a global scale. Ali’s first book, Popular Politics and the Path to Durable Democracy, was published in 2022 by Princeton University Press, and he’s published many articles. His PhD in is Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (go Tarheels!), and earned a MA and BA in political science from University of Tehran in Iran.
About Terms of Engagement
From rank-choice voting to reconciliation, American democracy is headline news. Let’s talk about it.
Join Harvard Ash Center's Archon Fung and Stephen Richer for a weekly conversation about the latest developments in American politics. Blending perspectives from both the political right and left, Terms of Engagement addresses breaking news, providing insights from research and practice to deliver a unique perspective you won’t hear anywhere else.
Contact Us
Send questions, ideas, and feedback to us at [email protected].
About the Hosts
Archon Fung is the Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. His research explores policies, practices, and institutional designs that deepen the quality of democratic governance with a focus on public participation, deliberation, and transparency. He has authored five books, four edited collections, and over fifty articles appearing in professional journals. He received two S.B.s — in philosophy and physics — and his Ph.D. in political science from MIT.
Stephen Richer is the former elected Maricopa County Recorder, responsible for voter registration, early voting administration, and public recordings in Maricopa County, Arizona, the fourth largest county in the United States. Prior to being an elected official, Stephen worked at several public policy think tanks and as a business transactions attorney. Stephen received his J.D. and M.A. from The University of Chicago and his B.A. from Tulane University.
Stephen has been broadly recognized for his work in elections and American Democracy. In 2021, the Arizona Republic named Stephen “Arizonan of the Year.” In 2022, the Maricopa Bar Association awarded Stephen “Public Law Attorney of the Year.” In 2023, Stephen won “Leader of the Year” from the Arizona Capitol Times. And in 2024, Time Magazine named Stephen a “Defender of Democracy.”
About the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, a research center at Harvard Kennedy School, is Harvard’s hub for the study, discussion, and analysis of democracy. The Ash Center’s mission is to develop ideas and foster practices for equal and inclusive, multi-racial and multi-ethnic democracy and self-government.
Music Credit: Straight to the Point, Music Media Group
