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The State, Democracy, and Development

Nadia Ramsis Farah

in Egypt's Political Economy: Power Relations in Development

This chapter examines the interrelationships between democracy and development. A new politicist trend in social sciences maintains that development is contingent on the existence of a prior ... More

This chapter examines the interrelationships between democracy and development. A new politicist trend in social sciences maintains that development is contingent on the existence of a prior democratic system. Traditional modernization and Marxist theories, on the other hand, have argued that a certain degree of development is a precondition to political liberalization. The chapter rejects these causal explanations of political liberalization. Political liberalization is, rather, the outcome of power relations between factions of elites, or between national and foreign elites. The history of parliamentarism in Egypt supports this assertion. When Khedive Isma'il attempted to resist foreign intervention in Egypt in the 1870s, he allied himself with the members of the Assembly of Delegates, established in 1866, to regain his independence from European powers. While the Assembly of Delegates had limited powers, its members refused the decree to abolish the Assembly issued by Isma'il in 1879 under pressure from the foreign creditors. On the other hand, the early 1970s witnessed intense competition between factions of the bureaucratic elites, which emerged during the 1960s within the confines of the Nasserist state. The resulting intense power conflict was resolved through an internal coup d'état in May 1971, when Anwar Sadat eliminated the pro-Nasserist bureaucratic elites through arrests and lengthy periods of imprisonment.Less

Weak Ties in Zambia and Kenya

Adrienne LeBas

in From Protest to Parties: Party-Building and Democratization in Africa

Chapter 6 argues that civic life in both Zambia and Kenya was characterized by weak social ties, which impeded party-building before and after democratic transitions began. The structure of these ... More

Chapter 6 argues that civic life in both Zambia and Kenya was characterized by weak social ties, which impeded party-building before and after democratic transitions began. The structure of these ties differed. In Zambia, the loose cross-regional networks of organized labor provided likely opposition supporters with a focal point and a means of coordinating votes. In Kenya, on the other hand, civic life was atomized to the district level, which made the coordination of protest across space or across ethnic groups far more difficult. In Zambia, trade unions provided a mobilizing structure that allowed for a successful protest movement as opposition to the ruling party increased. In Kenya, the absence of this mobilizing structure led opposition leaders to rely on ethnic mobilization. In the two countries, different network structures had different implications for the coordination of protest, but they were similarly unsuited for the building of strong, durable opposition parties.Less

Reining in the Executive: What Can the Judiciary Do?

Nathan J. Brown

in Judges and Political Reform in Egypt

This chapter explains why the struggle for judicial independence attracts high hopes from advocates of political liberalization and constitutional reform. It explores the various tools that judges ... More

This chapter explains why the struggle for judicial independence attracts high hopes from advocates of political liberalization and constitutional reform. It explores the various tools that judges have, acting individually and collectively, to pursue the path of constitutional Reform. Furthermore, it examines the degree to which judges have been successful. It then explains the limits and potentialities of judicial activism by focusing on the electoral process. Finally, it concludes by showing why judicial accomplishments, while significant, are unlikely to lead by themselves to a fundamentally different political order. It focuses as much on the limitations of the judiciary as on its potentialities. It seeks to present not a celebratory tale of resistance to oppression but rather a political analysis of the genuine prospects for change.Less

Power Elites in the Twenty-First Century: Consequences of New Leadership

Roderic Ai Camp

in Mexico's Mandarins: Crafting a Power Elite for the Twenty-First Century

This chapter emphasizes those representative prototypes of the power elite who will dominate in the immediate future and who will mentor the next generation. It discusses what they represent and ... More

This chapter emphasizes those representative prototypes of the power elite who will dominate in the immediate future and who will mentor the next generation. It discusses what they represent and suggest their consequences for Mexico's future. Drawing comparisons across each of the power elite groups indicates that some groups represent a well-defined shift in elite leadership, while others can claim only modest differences from their predecessors. Intellectuals—both public and private—share some qualities with a third type of cultural power elite, the international intellectual. Demographic patterns favoring urbanization are not likely to change in the twenty-first century. The most dramatic structural shift in the experiences of Mexico's power elite corresponds with the most influential ideological shift in the last three decades, an emphasis on political and economic liberalization. As Mexican leadership marches into the next millennium, networking and mentoring will continue to be vibrant features of power elite circles.Less

Reforming the Jordanian monarchy

Sonia L. Alianak

in The Transition Towards Revolution and Reform: The Arab Spring Realised?

This chapter analyses Jordanian king Abdullah II’s resorting to religion, as the forty-third descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, during the 2011 Arab Spring, which permeated his other methods of ... More

This chapter analyses Jordanian king Abdullah II’s resorting to religion, as the forty-third descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, during the 2011 Arab Spring, which permeated his other methods of cooptation, repression and political liberalisation, lessening the severity of the hierarchical dissonance in values experienced with the ruled who demanded economic justice but at the same time valued stability like their monarch whom they trusted, and which contributed to the survival of the monarchy by making a slow managed reform process more tenable as depicted by the Pendulum Model. The monarch’s version of Islam tended to be more acceptable than that of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic Action Front, who also calling for stability asked for a faster rate of reform which Abdullah II did not tend to oblige perhaps because he did not feel as secure as the Moroccan monarch due to Jordan’s more recent creation after the First World War.Less

Political liberalisation processes

Inmaculada Szmolka and Irene Fernández-Molina

in Political Change in the Middle East and North Africa: After the Arab Spring

This chapter examines the political liberalisation processes undertaken in MENA countries such as Morocco, Jordan, Oman and Algeria. As on previous occasions, the post-2011 political liberalisation ... More

This chapter examines the political liberalisation processes undertaken in MENA countries such as Morocco, Jordan, Oman and Algeria. As on previous occasions, the post-2011 political liberalisation processes were planned and led by the authoritarian rulers in a top-down fashion, acting as an escape valve for authoritarian regimes to defuse social discontent. These reforms were largely cosmetic and therefore have not led to a change in the authoritarian nature of the political regimes. The reforms focused mainly on two aspects: reforms of the constitution and party and electoral laws and changes in each regime’s degree of representation and/or political participation. Although there are positive aspects, the reforms have not brought about substantial changes in power relations. Only in the case of Morocco did these changes produce alternation in government although even there, the repercussions were limited by the need for the election winning party to form a coalition government and because of royal interference in the executive.Less

The Family in Flux: Family and Personal Relationships in Rural Areas, 1954–1966

in Revolutionizing the Family: Politics, Love, and Divorce in Urban and Rural China, 1949-1968

This chapter examines the personal and family relationships in rural China during the period from 1954 to 1966. It evaluates the impacts on these relationships of two key political events during this ... More

This chapter examines the personal and family relationships in rural China during the period from 1954 to 1966. It evaluates the impacts on these relationships of two key political events during this period: the political decentralization between 1954 and 1958 and the political and economic liberalization of 1961–1963. It investigates the role of peasants' materials and other resources on divorces and the impact of changing land tenure relations on the power relations in the family.Less

After The Cold War

G. John Ikenberry

in After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major Wars, New Edition

This chapter studies the institutional logic of Western order after the Cold War. American foreign policy after the Cold War is largely consistent with the institutional model of order building. As a ... More

This chapter studies the institutional logic of Western order after the Cold War. American foreign policy after the Cold War is largely consistent with the institutional model of order building. As a rising post-Cold War power, the United States had incentives to use institutions to lock in favorable policy orientations in other states. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expansion, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) all contain elements of this thinking. American officials calculated that bringing newly reforming countries into these organizations would help reinforce domestic institutions and political coalitions in these countries that were committed to political and market liberalization. In return, the United States accepted some additional obligations to these countries in the form of security commitments or institutionalized access to American markets.Less

Emerging Economic, Social, and Political Tensions

Yukon Huang

in Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom is Often Wrong

This chapter discusses how China’s economic transformation, supported by its decentralized system of governance, has affected social outcomes and prospects for political liberalization. China’s ... More

This chapter discusses how China’s economic transformation, supported by its decentralized system of governance, has affected social outcomes and prospects for political liberalization. China’s development path differs from the usual norms. Its impressive growth has been facilitated by a unique decentralized administrative system that has incentivized officials to promote growth and maintain political stability. Rapid growth, however, has not spared China from increasing unrest over widening income disparities, environmental degradation, and social and political tensions, thus raising concerns about the need for systemic reforms in governance. Concerns about economic and political sustainability have intensified recently with corruption being highlighted as threatening the legitimacy of the Communist Party. The new leadership has reiterated a commitment to further economic reforms, but the political system appears to be stuck in a time warp.Less

The Sounds of Silence: Feminist Research across Time in Guatemala

Cathy Blacklock and Alison Crosby

in Sites of Violence: Gender and Conflict Zones

This chapter discusses the thirty-six-year civil war in Guatemala. It describes the challenges of participant observation research with popular women's organizations in the context of ... More

This chapter discusses the thirty-six-year civil war in Guatemala. It describes the challenges of participant observation research with popular women's organizations in the context of democratization, a period during which a process of political liberalization occurred in an environment of continuing state repression. It then explores the challenges of undertaking feminist action research with organized groups within civil society in postwar Guatemala. The practical goals of the women's organizations have been to build women's self-esteem and sense of entitlement and to educate women politically. It reveals the changes, albeit slow, messy, and uneven, that were happening as the Guatemalan social system underwent a transition from militarized democratization to post-peace accord neoliberalism. The structures of inequality are utilized to neoliberalize the Guatemalan economy, while the elite exploit the political opportunities of a more distant relationship to the repressive apparatus allowed by the logic of the neoliberal market.Less

Debating Participation: The Bahraini Shiʿa and Regional Influences

Frederic M. Wehrey

in Sectarian Politics in the Gulf: From the Iraq War to the Arab Uprisings

This chapter examines the debate among the Shi'a over whether to participate in the Bahraini Parliament. The collapse of the Saddam regime in Iraq and the political empowerment of Iraq Shi'a left ... More

This chapter examines the debate among the Shi'a over whether to participate in the Bahraini Parliament. The collapse of the Saddam regime in Iraq and the political empowerment of Iraq Shi'a left Bahrain the only country in the Arab world where a Sunni minority rules over a Shi'a majority. The Iraq War was a form of political theater that compelled Bahraini elites and ordinary citizens not simply to observe, but to participate and “reenact” in a highly partisan manner. This participation took a number of forms and was frequently accompanied by fierce debate. For a sizeable bloc of the Shi'a, elections in Iraq provided the impetus to end their previous boycott of Bahrain's Parliament. This chapter considers how the rise of Iranian power injected a new dynamic into identity politics and political liberalization in Bahrain. It also explores the degree to which regional events outside Bahrain influenced the Shi'a by discussing the various Shi'a political societies, their leaders, and their platforms.Less

Conclusion—Cracking the China Conundrum

Yukon Huang

in Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom is Often Wrong

This chapter brings together the factors that have shaped perceptions about China’s economic rise. It begins by discussing the diverging views of China’s economic prospects. This has implications for ... More

This chapter brings together the factors that have shaped perceptions about China’s economic rise. It begins by discussing the diverging views of China’s economic prospects. This has implications for the debate about the role of the state and prospects for political liberalization framed against President Xi’s corruption campaign and more aggressive foreign policies. Observers see China through their own self-prescribed lens. Factors shaping such perceptions fall under three themes. The first relates to geopolitical tensions and mistrust; the second to location and choice of comparators, complicated by China’s size, speed of change and complexity; and the third is China’s differing institutions and relevance of traditional analytical frameworks. In addition, lack of transparency complicates judgments. Understanding the nature of these differences is the initial step in forging more constructive relations between China as an abnormal great power and the rest of the world.Less

The Politics of the Haratin Social Movement in Mauritania, 1978–2014

Zekeria Ould Ahmed Salem

in Social Currents in North Africa: Culture and Governance after the Arab Spring

The Haratin have sought equality and justice primarily through fighting the stigmas attached to slavery and by challenging the political marginalization that has secured their subordination. This ... More

The Haratin have sought equality and justice primarily through fighting the stigmas attached to slavery and by challenging the political marginalization that has secured their subordination. This chapter explores the context in which the Haratin movement began, the evolution of the rhetoric it has used to articulate dissent, its politics, and the growing diversity of the organizations that have devoted themselves to the Haratin cause. It outlines the ways in which the generational divide among activists has shaped the movement’s actions without changing its core demands. It devotes to analyzing the patterns of conflict and cooperation over time, not only within the movement, but also in its rather ambiguous relationships with other social and political actors. It seeks to explain how the complex intersectionality of ethnic and cultural identities has made it difficult at times for non-Haratin communities to accept the legitimacy of the Haratin cause. The chapter then argues that not only has the Haratin movement been an important player in Mauritania’s various attempts at democratization, but also that so-called “political liberalization” has allowed the movement the opportunity to advance its social and political agendas.Less