Iranians: Do They Say They Want a Revolution?

Abstract

Are the Iranian people deeply dissatisfied with their current system of government? Is the general public actually pro-American contrary to the position of their government? These questions are not academic. The Bush Administration’s policy of regime change in Iran appears to be based on the conviction that Iranians yearn for a Western-style democracy to replace the Islamic Republic that has ruled their nation since 1979. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress in 2006 for $75 million to “support the aspirations of the Iranian people for freedom in their own country.”