Non-democratic states and political liberalisation in the Middle East: A structural analysis

Third World Quarterly

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 63-85

  Kamrava, Mehran ^a  

^a CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEVELOPING COUNTRY; LIBERALISATION; POLITICAL REFORM;

MIDDLE EAST;

EID: 0031775608     PISSN: 01436597     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01436599814532     Document Type: Article

References (97)

1. For a review of some of the recent scholarship on democratisation in the Middle East, see Jill Crystal, 'Authoritarianism and its adversaries in the Arab world', World Politics, 46, 1994. pp 262-89. See also, among others, Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany & Paul Noble (eds), Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, Vol 1, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1995; Ghassan Salamé (ed), Democracy without Democrats: The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World, London: IB Tauris, 1994; and Augustus Richard Norton (ed), Civil Society in the Middle East, Leiden: EJ Brill, 1995.
2. For a review of some of the recent scholarship on democratisation in the Middle East, see Jill Crystal, 'Authoritarianism and its adversaries in the Arab world', World Politics, 46, 1994. pp 262-89. See also, among others, Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany & Paul Noble (eds), Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, Vol 1, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1995; Ghassan Salamé (ed), Democracy without Democrats: The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World, London: IB Tauris, 1994; and Augustus Richard Norton (ed), Civil Society in the Middle East, Leiden: EJ Brill, 1995.
3. For a review of some of the recent scholarship on democratisation in the Middle East, see Jill Crystal, 'Authoritarianism and its adversaries in the Arab world', World Politics, 46, 1994. pp 262-89. See also, among others, Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany & Paul Noble (eds), Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, Vol 1, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1995; Ghassan Salamé (ed), Democracy without Democrats: The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World, London: IB Tauris, 1994; and Augustus Richard Norton (ed), Civil Society in the Middle East, Leiden: EJ Brill, 1995.
4. For a review of some of the recent scholarship on democratisation in the Middle East, see Jill Crystal, 'Authoritarianism and its adversaries in the Arab world', World Politics, 46, 1994. pp 262-89. See also, among others, Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany & Paul Noble (eds), Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, Vol 1, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1995; Ghassan Salamé (ed), Democracy without Democrats: The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World, London: IB Tauris, 1994; and Augustus Richard Norton (ed), Civil Society in the Middle East, Leiden: EJ Brill, 1995.
5. F Gregory Gause, Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States, New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1994.
6. Battatu explains that while the 'political' base of the Syrian state is narrow, its 'social support is markedly wider' in that many social actors have an economic stake in the regime. Hanna Battatu, 'Political power and social structure in Syria and Iraq', in Samih Farsoun (ed), Arab Society: Continuity and Change, London: Croom Helm, 1985, p 37. See also Raymond Hinnebusch, Authoritarian Power and State Formation in Ba'thist Syria: Army, Party and Peasant, Boulder, CO: Westview, 1990.
7. Battatu explains that while the 'political' base of the Syrian state is narrow, its 'social support is markedly wider' in that many social actors have an economic stake in the regime. Hanna Battatu, 'Political power and social structure in Syria and Iraq', in Samih Farsoun (ed), Arab Society: Continuity and Change, London: Croom Helm, 1985, p 37. See also Raymond Hinnebusch, Authoritarian Power and State Formation in Ba'thist Syria: Army, Party and Peasant, Boulder, CO: Westview, 1990.
8. Crystal, 'Authoritarianism and its adversities in the Arab world', p 264.
9. Since this paper deals with non-democratic states in the Middle East, it does not discuss that group which may be labelled 'proto-democratic': Lebanon, Turkey, the Palestinian Authority and Yemen. In some ways, the Israeli state also belongs to this category, although the establishment of a separate Palestinian Authority for Israel's Palestinian population makes the classification of the Jewish state still as proto-democratic somewhat problematic. As of this writing, the institutional features of the Yemeni state and the Palestinian Authority are still evolving and thus difficult firmly to categorise. Nevertheless, initial indications point in a proto-democratic direction.
10. Although these labels or their variations appear elsewhere, my usage of them here is inspired by Jeff Goodwin & Theda Skocpol, 'Explaining revolutions in the contemporary Third World', Politics and Society, 17, 1989, pp 489-509. For other state typologies, see, Anton Bebler & Jim Seroka (eds), Contemporary Political Systems: Classifications and Typologies, Boulder, CO: 1990, especially Bahgat Korany's chapter, 'Arab political systems', on pp 303-329. See also Iliya Harik, 'The origins of the Arab state system', in Ghassan Salamé (ed), The Foundations of the Arab State, London: Croom Helm, 1987, pp 19-46.
11. Although these labels or their variations appear elsewhere, my usage of them here is inspired by Jeff Goodwin & Theda Skocpol, 'Explaining revolutions in the contemporary Third World', Politics and Society, 17, 1989, pp 489-509. For other state typologies, see, Anton Bebler & Jim Seroka (eds), Contemporary Political Systems: Classifications and Typologies, Boulder, CO: 1990, especially Bahgat Korany's chapter, 'Arab political systems', on pp 303-329. See also Iliya Harik, 'The origins of the Arab state system', in Ghassan Salamé (ed), The Foundations of the Arab State, London: Croom Helm, 1987, pp 19-46.
12. Although these labels or their variations appear elsewhere, my usage of them here is inspired by Jeff Goodwin & Theda Skocpol, 'Explaining revolutions in the contemporary Third World', Politics and Society, 17, 1989, pp 489-509. For other state typologies, see, Anton Bebler & Jim Seroka (eds), Contemporary Political Systems: Classifications and Typologies, Boulder, CO: 1990, especially Bahgat Korany's chapter, 'Arab political systems', on pp 303-329. See also Iliya Harik, 'The origins of the Arab state system', in Ghassan Salamé (ed), The Foundations of the Arab State, London: Croom Helm, 1987, pp 19-46.
13. Although these labels or their variations appear elsewhere, my usage of them here is inspired by Jeff Goodwin & Theda Skocpol, 'Explaining revolutions in the contemporary Third World', Politics and Society, 17, 1989, pp 489-509. For other state typologies, see, Anton Bebler & Jim Seroka (eds), Contemporary Political Systems: Classifications and Typologies, Boulder, CO: 1990, especially Bahgat Korany's chapter, 'Arab political systems', on pp 303-329. See also Iliya Harik, 'The origins of the Arab state system', in Ghassan Salamé (ed), The Foundations of the Arab State, London: Croom Helm, 1987, pp 19-46.
14. Khaldoun Hasan Al-Naqeeb, Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula, London: Routledge, 1990, p 6.
15. Dirk Vandewalle, 'From the new state to the new era: toward a second republic in Tunisia', Middle East Journal , 42 (4), 1988, p 618.
16. Rosemarie Said Zahlan, The Making of the Modern Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, London: Unwin Hyman, 1989, p 63.
17. Mehran Kamrava, Politics and Society in the Third World, London: Routledge, 1993, pp 15-19.
18. Most of the top leaders within the Syrian state are members of Asad's family. Hanna Battatu, 'Political power and social structure in Syria and Iraq', p 37.
19. For an interesting study of the media in the Arab world, see William Rugh, The Arab Press, Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1987. Rugh does not discuss the Arab press's coverage of local issues.
20. James Rosberg, 'Causes and consequences of judicial independence in contemporary Egypt', paper presented at the Middle East Studies Association conference, Phoenix, AZ, 1994.
21. Personal interview, Ismail Boulahia, Vice President of the Democratic Socialist Movement (MDS) party, Tunis, 27 May 1996.
22. Lisa Anderson, 'Absolutism and the resilience of monarchy in the Middle East', Political Science Quarterly, 106 (1), pp 5-6.
23. Daniel Brumberg, 'Authoritarian legacies and reform strategies in the Arab world', in Brynen, Korany & Noble, Political Liberalization and Democratisation in the Arab World, p 233.
24. Monte Palmer, Ali Leila & El Sayed Yassin, The Egyptian Bureaucracy, Cairo: The American University of Cairo Press, 1988, p 4.
25. Ibid.
26. Alan Richards & John Waterbury, A Political economy of the Middle East: State, Class, and Economic Development, Boulder, CO: Westview, 1990, p 205.
27. Dirk Vandewalle, 'Breaking with socialism: economic liberalization and privatization in Algeria', in Iliya Harik & Denis Sullivan (eds), Privatization and Liberalisation in the Middle East, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1992, p 189.
28. Brumberg, 'Authoritarian legacies and reform strategies in the Arab world', p 235.
29. Richards & Waterbury, A Political Economy of the Middle East, pp 257-258.
30. Fouad Ajami, The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice since 1967, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981, p 90.
31. Ibid, pp 100-101.
32. Anthony McDermott, Egypt from Nasser to Mubarak: A Flawed Revolution, London: Croom Helm, 1988, p 198.
33. Vandewalle, 'From the new state to the new era: toward a second republic in Tunisia', pp 614-615.
34. Raymond Hinnebusch, 'State and civil society in Syria', Middle East Journal, 47 (2), 1993, p 247.
35. Max Weber, On Charisma and Institution Building, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968, p 46.
36. Since its war with Iran and invasion of Kuwait, Iraq fits more appropriately into the inclusionary than the exclusionary category of states. Nevertheless, even Saddam Hussein, who never served in the Iraqi army, was given the rank of general by his then superior, President Bakr. Before the two wars, Saddam often wore civilian suits, although he is now hardly seen not wearing his military uniform. See Efraim Karsh & Inari Rausti, Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography, New York: The Free Press, 1991.
37. James Bill & Robert Springborg, Politics in the Middle East, New York: Harper Collins, 1994, p 247.
38. Ibid, p 267.
39. Patrick Scale, 'Asad: between institutions and autocracy', in Richard Antoun & Donald Quataert (eds), Syria: Society, Culture, and Polity, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1991, p 107.
40. Foreign Broadcast Information Service: Near East and South Asia (FBIS-NES), 8 November 1995, p 21.
41. For an insightful look at Egypt's Jama'a, see Hamied Ansari, Egypt: The Stalled Society, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1986, pp 212-230.
42. See Michael Collins Dunn, 'The Al-Nahda movement in Tunisia: from renaissance to revolution', in John Ruedy (ed), Islamism and Secularism in North Africa, New York: St Martin's, 1994, pp 149-165. At best, leaders of al-Nahda, most of whom are in exile in Europe, denounce President Ben Ali through fax transmissions into the country. Personal interview with Western diplomat in Tunis, May 1996.
43. Lisa Anderson, 'Political pacts, liberalism, and democracy: the Tunisian National Pact of 1988', Government and Opposition, Spring 1991, pp 244-260.
44. US Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995: Tunisia, 1 March 1996, PP 2-3.
45. For a vivid account of the events at Hama see, Thomas Friedman, From Beirut to Jerusalem, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1989, pp 76-87.
46. John Ruedy, Modern Algeria: The Origins and Development of a Nation, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1992, p 209.
47. Pictorial or symbolic representations of the president (in terms of public places named after him) vary from one exclusionary state to another. President Asad's larger-than-life photographs and statutes can be found throughout Damascus and other Syrian cities. President Ben Ali's portraits are somewhat less omnipresent in Tunisia, though he is fond of a photograph that shows him looking decisive and forward-looking. Unlike with Sadat, there are few giant portraits of President Mubarak in Egyptian cities, though some can still be found in Cairo and elsewhere.
48. Ervand Abrahimian, Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993, p 38.
49. Mohsen Milani, 'Shi'ism and the state in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran', in Samih Farsoun & Mehrdad Mashayekhi (eds), Iran: Political Culture in the Islamic Republic, London: Routledge, 1992, p 152.
50. Dirk Vandewalle, 'Qadhafi's "Perestroika": economic and political liberalization in Libya', Middle East Journal, 45 (2), 1991, p 217.
51. Bill & Springborg, Politics in the Middle East, pp 291-292.
52. Weber, On Charisma and Institution Building, pp 48-51.
53. Nikola Schahgaldian, The Iranian Military Under the Islamic Republic, Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 1987, p 34.
54. Anoushiravan Ehteshami, After Khomeini: The Iranian Second Republic, London: Routledge, 1995, p 71.
55. Ibid, pp 27-29.
56. Hooshang Amirahmadi, Revolution and Economic Transition: The Iranian Experience, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1990, p 89.
57. Samir al-Khalil, Republic of Fear: The Inside Story of Saddam's Iraq, New York: Pantheon Books, 1989. Referring to alleged plotters within the Ba'th party, Saddam himself is quoted as having once said: 'We are now in our Stalinist era. We shall strike with an iron fist against the slightest deviation or backsliding beginning with the Ba'thists themselves.' Quoted in Karsh & Rautsi, Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography, p 117.
58. Samir al-Khalil, Republic of Fear: The Inside Story of Saddam's Iraq, New York: Pantheon Books, 1989. Referring to alleged plotters within the Ba'th party, Saddam himself is quoted as having once said: 'We are now in our Stalinist era. We shall strike with an iron fist against the slightest deviation or backsliding beginning with the Ba'thists themselves.' Quoted in Karsh & Rautsi, Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography, p 117.
59. F Gregory Cause, III, 'Regional influences on experiments in political liberalisation in the Arab World', in Brynen, Korany & Noble, Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, p 286. Comparable data for the same years include 20.5% for Saudi Arabia and 18.8% for PDR Yemen.
60. Following the Gulf War, this number was reported to have been reduced to 350 000. John Paxton (ed), The Statesman's Yearbook, 1988-89, and 1993-94, New York: St Martin's.
61. al-Khalil, Republic of Fear, pp 30-31.
62. Karsh & Rausti, Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography, p 176. See also Marion Farouk-Sluglett & Peter Sluglett, 'The Iraqi Ba'th Party', in Vicky Randall (ed), Political Parties in the Third World, London: Sage, 1988, pp 57-74.
63. Karsh & Rausti, Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography, p 176. See also Marion Farouk-Sluglett & Peter Sluglett, 'The Iraqi Ba'th Party', in Vicky Randall (ed), Political Parties in the Third World, London: Sage, 1988, pp 57-74.
64. Karsh & Rausti, Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography, pp 176-177.
65. Vandewalle, 'Qadhafi's "Perestroika", pp 218-219.
66. Samir Al-Khalil, The Monument: An and Vulgarity in Iraq, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991.
67. Donald Malcom Reid, 'The postage stamp: a window on Saddam Hussein's Iraq', Middle East Journal, 47 (1), 1993, pp 77-89.
68. Karsh & Rausti, Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography, p 224.
69. Bill & Springborg, Politics in the Middle East, pp 151-171.
70. Ruedy, Modern Algeria, p 240.
71. Manoucher Parvin & Mostafa Vaziri, 'Islamic man and society in the Islamic Republic of Iran', in Farsoun & Mashayekhi (eds), Iran: Political Culture in the Islamic Republic, pp 123-124.
72. Abrahimian, Khomeinism, p 38.
73. Zahlan, The Making of the Modern Gulf States, pp 27-30.
74. Rex Brynen, 'Economic crisis and post-rentier democratization in the Arab World', Canadian Journal of Political Science, 25 (1), 1992, p 70.
75. Alben Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991, p 115.
76. Today, the Moroccan state relies for its legitimacy not so much on the country's history of monarchic rule but rather on the 'struggles' of the founder of the modern state, Muhammad V, against the French.
77. Al-Naqeeb, Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula, p 102.
78. Weber, On Charisma and Institution Building, p 46.
79. Ibid, Emphasis in the original.
80. Al-Naqeeb, Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula, p 107.
81. Gause, Oil Monarchies, p 23.
82. Ibid, p 25.
83. Zahlan, The Making of the Modern Gulf States, p 79.
84. Ibid, p 88.
85. Peter Wilson & Douglas Graham, Saudi Arabia: The Coming Storm, Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, 1994, pp 20-21.
86. Nevertheless, princely privileges appear more extensive in Saudi Arabia than in the other Gulf monarchies. The Saudi royal family has a separate satellite telephone network of its own, and all princes receive annual salaries ranging from $200 000 to $50 000. See ibid, pp 19-22.
87. Al-Naqeeb, Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula, p 104.
88. Gause, Oil Monarchies, pp 56-57.
89. Ibid, p 54.
90. In 1986, in an attempt to shore up his Islamic credentials, King Fahd dropped the title of 'His Majesty' and instead adopted the more humble 'Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques'.
91. Charles Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, New York: St Martin's, 1992, pp 300-301.
92. In this respect, in fact, family control over state institutions is far more extensive in Syria than it is in Jordan.
93. Omar Bendourou, 'Power and opposition in Morocco', Journal of Democracy, 7 (3), 1996, pp 110-111.
94. Ibid, p 110.
95. Ibid, pp 113-114.
96. Quoted in ibid, p 114.
97. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, 'Liberalization and democratization in the Arab world: an overview', in Brynen, Korany & Noble (eds), Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, pp 46-47.