Bahgat Korany
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789774166587
- eISBN:
- 9781617975912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774166587.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
The central message of this book is that change leading to empowerment must start at the highest level of government decision-making. Empowerment requires resisting authoritarianism and achieving a ...
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The central message of this book is that change leading to empowerment must start at the highest level of government decision-making. Empowerment requires resisting authoritarianism and achieving a balanced relationship between citizens and the ruling power. Regimes' obsession with military security has come at the expense of legitimacy, public services, and wider human security. This has led to the deterioration of already inadequate living standards and social conditions. For some regimes this policy failure has led to state failure. Yet democratization waves are spreading through the region. Though the core tenets of democracy are the same everywhere, the Arab world must develop its own mode of democratic governance based on the primacy of social justice. In an institution-based society, everyone must adhere to practices of transparent decision-making, with oversight and accountability at all levels. While the Arab Spring marked a start toward democratization, the path remains difficult. This book proposes that democratization begin with establishing a stable and peaceful means for transferring power in a state ruled by law and with codified, objective standards for decision-making. Toward this end, states must pursue transparency, balanced media reporting, effective conflict management, and support for communal and individual identity.Less
The central message of this book is that change leading to empowerment must start at the highest level of government decision-making. Empowerment requires resisting authoritarianism and achieving a balanced relationship between citizens and the ruling power. Regimes' obsession with military security has come at the expense of legitimacy, public services, and wider human security. This has led to the deterioration of already inadequate living standards and social conditions. For some regimes this policy failure has led to state failure. Yet democratization waves are spreading through the region. Though the core tenets of democracy are the same everywhere, the Arab world must develop its own mode of democratic governance based on the primacy of social justice. In an institution-based society, everyone must adhere to practices of transparent decision-making, with oversight and accountability at all levels. While the Arab Spring marked a start toward democratization, the path remains difficult. This book proposes that democratization begin with establishing a stable and peaceful means for transferring power in a state ruled by law and with codified, objective standards for decision-making. Toward this end, states must pursue transparency, balanced media reporting, effective conflict management, and support for communal and individual identity.
Bahgat Korany
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789774166587
- eISBN:
- 9781617975912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774166587.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
The events of the Arab Spring starkly illustrate that average economic growth rates do not constitute development and can even be misleading. Development is defined here as empowerment, starting with ...
More
The events of the Arab Spring starkly illustrate that average economic growth rates do not constitute development and can even be misleading. Development is defined here as empowerment, starting with restructuring the top of the political system, the equivalent of the body's central nervous system. Empowerment and the primacy of inclusionary decision-making are antithetical to the present neo-patrimonial mode of governance. They affirm the primacy of coordination and partnership in managing the affairs of state and society, in contrast to a control-based model that relies on coercion and compulsion. Empowerment is also at the core of the emerging democratic transition. The methodology adopted here is based on a medical analogy: get the diagnosis and the prescription right-major restructuring-then initiate the change by overcoming the chronic adaptation deficit at the top of the regime. This analogy forms the basis of the book's analytical framework.Less
The events of the Arab Spring starkly illustrate that average economic growth rates do not constitute development and can even be misleading. Development is defined here as empowerment, starting with restructuring the top of the political system, the equivalent of the body's central nervous system. Empowerment and the primacy of inclusionary decision-making are antithetical to the present neo-patrimonial mode of governance. They affirm the primacy of coordination and partnership in managing the affairs of state and society, in contrast to a control-based model that relies on coercion and compulsion. Empowerment is also at the core of the emerging democratic transition. The methodology adopted here is based on a medical analogy: get the diagnosis and the prescription right-major restructuring-then initiate the change by overcoming the chronic adaptation deficit at the top of the regime. This analogy forms the basis of the book's analytical framework.
Bahgat Korany (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789774166587
- eISBN:
- 9781617975912
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774166587.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
In addition to its emphasis on the primacy of change and dynamics rather than static snapshots, this book looks critically at development studies and policies. Originally prepared as the ...
More
In addition to its emphasis on the primacy of change and dynamics rather than static snapshots, this book looks critically at development studies and policies. Originally prepared as the tenth-anniversary volume of the UNDP's series of Arab Human Development Reports, Arab Human Development in the Twenty-first Century inventories existing knowledge to present an integrated and coherent report through the systematic application of its political-economy framework. It places empowerment at the center of human development in the Arab world, away from the dominant existing “securocracy” state. Empowerment is viewed not only from the vantage point of a more equitable distribution of economic resources but also of fundamental legal, educational, and political reform to promote state-society partnership. The book's ten chapters look back at what Arab countries have achieved since the early 2000s and forward to what remains to be done to reach equitable development. Supported by a wealth of statistical material, they cover the rule of law, the evolution of media, the persistence of corruption, the draining of resources through conflict mismanagement, the dominance and increase of poverty, the environment and its daily impact, and religious education and identity. The concluding chapter attempts a critical inventory of the world literature and different experiences of democratic transition to explore where the region could be heading. This critical and timely study is indispensable reading for Middle East scholars and students alike, as well as for anyone with an interest in the future trajectory of development analyses and policies in the global south.Less
In addition to its emphasis on the primacy of change and dynamics rather than static snapshots, this book looks critically at development studies and policies. Originally prepared as the tenth-anniversary volume of the UNDP's series of Arab Human Development Reports, Arab Human Development in the Twenty-first Century inventories existing knowledge to present an integrated and coherent report through the systematic application of its political-economy framework. It places empowerment at the center of human development in the Arab world, away from the dominant existing “securocracy” state. Empowerment is viewed not only from the vantage point of a more equitable distribution of economic resources but also of fundamental legal, educational, and political reform to promote state-society partnership. The book's ten chapters look back at what Arab countries have achieved since the early 2000s and forward to what remains to be done to reach equitable development. Supported by a wealth of statistical material, they cover the rule of law, the evolution of media, the persistence of corruption, the draining of resources through conflict mismanagement, the dominance and increase of poverty, the environment and its daily impact, and religious education and identity. The concluding chapter attempts a critical inventory of the world literature and different experiences of democratic transition to explore where the region could be heading. This critical and timely study is indispensable reading for Middle East scholars and students alike, as well as for anyone with an interest in the future trajectory of development analyses and policies in the global south.
