ABSTRACT
Turkey and Iran embarked on different courses of political development in the three decades following World War II. In Turkey, the authoritarian single party rule of the Republican People's Party (RPP) gave way to a multiparty system in which elections were openly contested and voters eagerly participated. Although Turkish democracy had moments of crisis during this period, they were resolved in favor of a continued commitment to political pluralism and freedom of expression. The new party received the first test of its popularity in the 1946 elections. Only four years after the founding of an opposition party, Turkey had peacefully transitioned to a multiparty democracy. An overview of governmental changes in the two decades after 1961 reveals the instability of Turkish political life during this period. As a consequence, Iran experienced major economic and social changes but did not witness a corresponding change in the traditional system of royal authoritarianism. The religious establishment mounted more indirect opposition.
