Frozen political liberalization in Jordan: The consequences for democracy

Democratization

Volumn 5, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 138-157

  Kamrava, Mehran ^a  

^a CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

JORDAN; POLITICAL SYSTEM; POLITICS;

MONARCHY; POLITICAL LIBERALISATION; POLITICAL TRANSITION;

JORDAN;

EID: 0031818506     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510349808403551     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. Gudrun Kramer, 'The Integration of the Integrists: A Comparative Study of Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia', in Ohassan Salame (ed.), Democracy Without Democrats? The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World (London: I. B. Tauris, 1994), p.202.
2. Laurie Brand, 'Economic and Political Liberalization in a Render Economy: The Case of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan', in Uiya Harik and Denis Sullivan (eds.), Privatization and Liberalization in the Middle East (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1992), pp.167-88. Jordan's rentier economy depended largely on remittences from the estimated 350,000 Jordanians - many of them professionals - who worked in the wealthy Gulf states before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
3. Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, The National Charter of Jordan (Amman: Government Press Office, n.d.), p.1.
4. Jordan's English language newspapers, The Star and The Jordan Times, presumably aimed at the diplomatic corps living in the country, tend to be more outspoken in their critical reporting of the government. This tends to be the case with most of the other English dailies in the Middle East. Examples include The Tehran Times, The Egyptian Gazette, The Gulf News and Khaleej Times (both in the United Arab Emirates), and The Kuwait Times.
5. Jordan's English language newspapers, The Star and The Jordan Times, presumably aimed at the diplomatic corps living in the country, tend to be more outspoken in their critical reporting of the government. This tends to be the case with most of the other English dailies in the Middle East. Examples include The Tehran Times, The Egyptian Gazette, The Gulf News and Khaleej Times (both in the United Arab Emirates), and The Kuwait Times.
6. Jordan's English language newspapers, The Star and The Jordan Times, presumably aimed at the diplomatic corps living in the country, tend to be more outspoken in their critical reporting of the government. This tends to be the case with most of the other English dailies in the Middle East. Examples include The Tehran Times, The Egyptian Gazette, The Gulf News and Khaleej Times (both in the United Arab Emirates), and The Kuwait Times.
7. Quoted in Foreign Broadcast Information Service-Near East and South Asia [EBIS-NES] (4 December 1995), p.52.
8. Michael Collins Dunn, 'Islamist Parties in Democratizing States: A Look at Jordan and Yemen', Middle East Policy. Vol.11, No.2 (1993), p.21.
9. Al-Ra'y (10 Dec. 1995), p.1.
10. Beverley Milton-Edwards, 'Climate of Change in Jordan's Islamist Movement', in Abdel Salam Sidahmed and Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Islamic Fundamentalism (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1996), p.131-4.
11. The Jordan Times. (12 Dec. 1995), p.12.
12. The Star (7 Dec. 1995), pp.1-2.
13. Al-Dustur (18 Dec. 1995), p.19.
14. Al-Hayah. (4 Oct. 1995), p.1.
15. The Jordan Times. (28 Nov. 1995), p.12.
16. In one of his televised speeches in 1995, the King said: Regardless of what is being said, this country is strong and capable of putting every wrongdoer in his place. ... I am hopeful that people will correct their path - a chance that I hope will be the last for people to reconsider their stands ... It seems that our actions were not realistic when we removed all restrictions (on the press). ... There must be restrictions, deterrents. We must reconsider attitudes toward those who harm public values and morals ... Quoted in FBIS-NES (13 Nov 1995), p.54.
17. Michael Herb, 'Princes and Parliaments: The emergence of democratic institutions in Middle Eastern monarchies', paper delivered at the 1995 meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois, p.8.
18. Laurie Brand, Palestinians in the Arab World: Insitution Building and the Search For State (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), pp.180-85.
19. Lisa Anderson, 'Absolutism and the Resilience of Monarchy in the Middle East', Political Science Quarterly, Vol.106, No.1(1991), p.4.
20. The Jordan Times (19 Nov. 1995), p.1.
21. King Hussein's televised speech before the Jordanian parliament on 9 Nov 1995, as quoted in FBIS-NES (13 Nov. 1995), p.54.
22. Interestingly, at no point does the eight-chapter document deal in detail with the role and responsibilities of the monarchy, except to reiterate the supremacy of the constitution and the rights of individuals to organize into political parties.
23. Rex Brynen, 'Economic Crisis and Post-Rentier Democratization in the Arab World', in Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol.25, No.1 (1992), pp.88-90.
24. The Star (7 Dec. 1995), p.1. Nevertheless, the IAF's current leader, Dr Ishaq Farhan, does head the Lower House's Conimittee on Public Liberties.
25. Besides those mentioned in Table 1, the Jordanian Democratic Unionist Party was created in late 1995 out of the merger of the Democratic Socialist Party, the Arab Democratic Party, and the Democratic Progressive Party.
26. The Jordan Times (18 Oct. 1995), p.3.
27. Halim Barakat, The Arab World: Society. Culture, and the State (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992), p.256.
28. Al-Dustur (13 Dec. 1995), p.27.
29. Beverley Milton-Edwards, 'Climate of Change in Jordan's Islamist Movement',p.126.
30. In January 1991, in the midst of the build-up leading to the Gulf War, seven Islamists, five from the Brethren and two independents, were given cabinet portfolios. Those belonging to the MB were given the ministries of health, education, awqaf justice, and Islamic affairs, while the independents were given charge of the commerce and transportation ministries. All were excluded from the next cabinet named six months later. Michael Collins. Dunn. 'Islamist Parties in Democratizing States: A Look at Jordan and Yemen', pp.19-20.
31. Quoted in the Jordan Times (12 Oct. 1995), p.1.
32. Beverley Milton-Edwards, 'Climate of Change in Jordan's Islamist Movement', p.135. According to the IAF's Secretary General, Dr Ishaq al-Farhan, who is himself a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, by 1995 only half of the Party's leadership belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood Movement. Al-Watan al-Arabi (22 Dec. 1995), p.21.
33. Beverley Milton-Edwards, 'Climate of Change in Jordan's Islamist Movement', p.135. According to the IAF's Secretary General, Dr Ishaq al-Farhan, who is himself a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, by 1995 only half of the Party's leadership belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood Movement. Al-Watan al-Arabi (22 Dec. 1995), p.21.
34. The information about the IAF's platform contained in this paragraph comes from Glenn Robinson, 'Can Islamists be Democrats? The Case of Jordan', paper delivered at the 1996 meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, California, p.9.
35. Mobilizing electoral support from women voters has also been pursued, with relative success, by both the largely Islamist Welfare Party in Turkey and by the Islamic Republic government in fran.
36. Al-Sharq al-Awsat (20 Sept. 1995), p.1.
37. Beverley Milton-Edwards, 'Climate of Change in Jordan's Islamist Movement', p.126.
38. The Jordan Times (10 Feb. 1996), p.7.
39. Al-Watan al-'Arabi (22 Dec. 1995), p.21.
40. Al-Sharq al-Awsat. (20 Sept. 1995), p.1.
41. The Jordan Times (4 Feb. 1996), p.3. Three IAF deputies went against the Party's Executive Committee and voted in support of the government. Two later resigned from the bloc. Al-Aswaq (1 April 1996), p.7.
42. The Jordan Times (4 Feb. 1996), p.3. Three IAF deputies went against the Party's Executive Committee and voted in support of the government. Two later resigned from the bloc. Al-Aswaq (1 April 1996), p.7.
43. The Star (5 Oct. 1995), p.1.
44. Al-Majd (11 Sept. 1995), p.2.
45. Al-Majd (4 Sept. 1995), p.3.
46. Al-Dustur (9 Sept. 1995), p.20. This is only a random sampling of the opposition's (especially the IAF's) efforts in the early fall months of 1995 directed at the Jordanian government's foreign policy.
47. For more on the role of civil society organizations in the democratization process see Gordon White, 'Civil Society, Democratization and Development', Democratization, Vol.1, No.3 (1994), pp. 375-88; and, Robin Luckham and Gordon White (eds.), Democratization in the South (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996).
48. For more on the role of civil society organizations in the democratization process see Gordon White, 'Civil Society, Democratization and Development', Democratization, Vol.1, No.3 (1994), pp. 375-88; and, Robin Luckham and Gordon White (eds.), Democratization in the South (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996).
49. For more on the characteristics of civil society organizations see, Philip Oxhorn, 'From Controlled Inclusion to Coerced Marginalization: The Struggle for Civil Society in LatinAmerica', in John Hall (ed.), Civil Society (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995), pp.251-3.
50. The Jordan Times (28 Nov. 1995), p.12.
51. The Star (16 Nov. 1995), p.5.
52. A former MP, Shubaylat had been arrested once before and sentenced to death, but later released as part of a royal pardon. His arrest in 1995 came after he gave at least ten lectures around the country in which he allegedly slandered the King and the Queen. The text of one of the speeches was later published in a Lebanese newspaper (Al-Safir) and can be found in FBIS-NES (4 Jan. 1996), pp.39-42.
53. The Jordan Times (11 Dec. 1995), p.1
54. The Jordan Times (28 Nov. 1995), p.12.
55. See for example, text of King Hussein's speech in FBIS-NES (13 Nov. 1995), p.55.
56. The Star (16 Nov. 1995), p.5.
57. This is a minimalist conception of democracy, as defined by the likes of Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Samuel Huntington. See, for example, Robert Dahl, Democracy and ils Critics (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989), p.233. Others would argue that democracy also needs a strong social and cultural element, hailed in recent literature as resurgent civil society. See the collection of articles in John Hall (ed.), Civil Society: Theory. History, Comparison (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995).
58. This is a minimalist conception of democracy, as defined by the likes of Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Samuel Huntington. See, for example, Robert Dahl, Democracy and ils Critics (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989), p.233. Others would argue that democracy also needs a strong social and cultural element, hailed in recent literature as resurgent civil society. See the collection of articles in John Hall (ed.), Civil Society: Theory. History, Comparison (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995).
59. See, for example, the collection of articles in Dennis Austin (ed.), Liberal Democracy in Non-Western States (St. Paul, MN: PWPA, 1995).
60. Gudrun Kramer, 'The Integration of the Integrists: a Comparative Study of Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia', p.218.
61. This popularity was enhanced significantly after the King's Gulf War stand and his cancer surgery. Michael Collins Dunn, 'Islarnist Parties in Democratizing States: A Look at Jordan and Yemen', p.21.
62. Lisa Anderson, 'Absolutism and the Resilience of Monarchy in the Middle East', p.14.
63. Augustus Richard Norton, 'Introduction' in Augustus Richard Norton (ed.), Civil Society in the Middle East (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1995), p.17.
64. Bülent Ecevit, former Turkish Prime Minister, recalls coming across an 'enlightened' Jordanian journalist who, despite being Christian, had voted for the 'Islamic fundamentalists.' The journalist's explanation: they were the only organized opposition group around. Bülent Ecevit, 'Prospects and Difficulties of Democratization in the Middle East', in Ellis Goldberg, Resat Kasaba, and Joel Migdal (eds.), Rules and Rights in the Middle East Democracy, Law, and Society (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1993), p.150.