Historical Comparative Analysis of Democracy in Iran

Comparative historical analysis is one of the most important and efficient methodologies in contemporary social sciences. It seems that this methodology can help us develop C. Wright Mills's concepts of sociological imagination.  Theda Skocpol, under the influence of Mills, employed sociology's historical imagination in analyzing social problems.  He argues that there are three approaches to historical sociology: interpretive historical sociology, macro-historical sociology, and analytical historical sociology. In this paper, the characteristics of comparative historical analysis are explained and then the application of this methodology is clarified in analyzing Iran s problems. In the end, the limitations and possibilities are mentioned.