The Economic Institutions of the Royal Court and Clientelism in the Pahlavi Regime

This paper seeks to examine the economic institutions of the Pahlavi court as one of the hidden pillars of the Pahlavi regime by analyzing it as a neo-patrimonial regime. The paper seeks to answer two questions: 1. What was the process of formation and development of economic activities of The Royal court ? 2. What causes the formation and continuation of the process of personal wealth accumulation by the court?To this end, the evolvement and development of the Pahlavi court's economic institutions, namely the Royal Landed Properties Department, the Organization of Pahlavi Real Properties and most importantly the Pahlavi Foundation, were examined using first-hand sources. Based on the analysis of the reasons for the formation of these institutions, findings of the research show that although the psychological tendencies of two Pahlavi monarchs for personal wealth accumulation cannot be ignored, the most important reasons for these tendencies were twofold: 1. providing the necessary funds for operating various clientelistic mechanisms by the court, and 2. establishing a financial basis for the court to be used in times of crisis independently from the state. The paper argues that without due regard to such institutions and their key functions, understanding the nature of the Pahlavi regime and the role of the royal court at the center of Iranian politics at the time will not be possible.