Evaluating the military, financial, and cultural dimentions of the First Pahlavi Government within the framework of the characteristics of the meritocratic administrative system

From the time Reza Shah Pahlavi seized power through the 1921 coup d’état (corresponding to 1299 in the Solar Hijri calendar), he embarked upon a project of state-building aimed at centralizing authority and extending control over various economic, social, and cultural spheres of the country. His measures in this direction included the suppression of tribal forces and the closure of political space.
In the wake of the failure of the Constitutional Revolution and the ensuing chaos caused by the weakness of the central government, segments of the intelligentsia and political elite, rather than seeking to complete and reform democratic institutions, came to view the acceptance of a modern despotism as the viable solution. They hoped that such authoritarian rule would at least establish security and order — an order that the Constitutional movement had been unable to achieve due to its internal weaknesses and adverse external conditions. In practice, however, what materialized was a personal dictatorship that secured order and stability at the cost of eradicating political, cultural, and individual liberties.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of the First Pahlavi era by examining whether Reza Shah’s policies and actions in the military, fiscal-economic, political, and cultural domains were grounded in the principles and characteristics of a meritocratic administrative system.
This research seeks to address the central question of whether the centralized state-building project under the First Pahlavi resulted in genuine reform of Iran’s administrative system, or whether it merely consolidated the foundations of power in favor of the Shah.
Ultimately, the findings of this study suggest that although certain reforms were implemented during this period, the process was largely superficial. Rather than being rooted in the institutionalization of legal rationality and the separation of powers, it led primarily to the concentration of personal authority.