The Iranian Old Regime against the New Constitutional Order:The Case of Fourth Elections in Zanjân

Iranian Constitutional movement led to the formation of a new and unprecedented political order. The National Consultative Assembly was the main and most visible result of this fundamental change. However, from a historical point of view it was a turning point in political culture of Iranian people and requires special attention. This paper, based mostly on documentary sources, attempts to shed lights on a less studied aspect of this subject. Its main focus is on the political behavior of a certain Jahanshâh Amir Afshâr, the then governor of Zanjân and a member of the traditional political elite. Posing the question on its historical context, it tries to show that how and to what extent, a local governor could make challenges to divert the direction of elections to maintain his pre-constitutional privileges. The results show that despite overseeing the process by Dehkhodâ, an exceptionally staunch constitutionalist, Amir Afshar succeed to hold his privileges under new conditions and this, by its turn, eclipsed the constitutional nature of New Order.