Francesco Cavatorta
Biographic Data
| ID | 679484 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Francesco Cavatorta |
| GIVEN NAMES | Francesco |
| FAMILY NAME | Cavatorta |
| SIGNATURE | CAVATORTA F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Dublin City University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2249-1392 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 88 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 643 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 80 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 8 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Cattivi Maestri: Intellectuals and Radical Political Mobilization
In this introduction to the Special Issue, we lay out the main lines of inquiry that guide our study. The main question addressed is the role of intellectuals in episodes of radical political mobilization, that is actions bent on challenging or upending the incumbent political order. In particular, we focus on the intellectuals’ production and intellectuals’ activity. To do this, we address in turn the questions of who can be considered an intell…
Opposition learning as capitulation: Communist parties’ trajectories in Iraq and Morocco
This article examines how the international environment influences the decision-making of opposition actors in the Arab world, with a focus on the communist parties. Theoretically, the article challenges the idea that the process of learning and adaptation that opposition parties have gone through across the Arab world and that allowed them to survive as organizations is the sole product of their interactions with the regime and with other opposi…
Introduction to the Special Issue: Resisting Surveillance Through Data Visibility and Invisibility
This piece provides an editorial introduction to the special issue on “Resisting Surveillance Through Data Visibility and Invisibility.”
The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa. By Malika Zeghal
Authoritarian Resilience in Mena Countries in the Era of Autocratization: A Comparative Area Study of Authoritarian Deepening
Building on studies on authoritarian resilience in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the article engages the current debate on global autocratization. It does so through the analysis of authoritarian deepening as a manifestation of contemporary authoritarianism from a cross-regional perspective. After framing theoretically and methodologically the study of authoritarian deepening, a Comparative Area Study—based on the most-different case s…
Routledge Handbook on Elections in the Middle East and North Africa
Salafism in the contemporary age: Wiktorowicz revisited
Multiparty Coalition Governments in the Arab World: An Introduction
This article puts forth the justification for examining multiparty coalitions governments in the Arab world. Although mostly associated with governance in fully-fledged democracies, the Arab world is no stranger to multiparty coalitions and coalition governance. In its modern history, the region can boast, in fact, a surprisingly large and diverse number of such coalitions. Analysing them in detail employing the theories and concepts of broader c…
Multiparty Cabinets and Coalition Governance in the Arab Middle East and North Africa
This article investigates a specific type of cabinet government in the Arab Middle East and North Africa ( mena ): the multiparty coalition. Although mostly associated with parliamentary democratic systems, coalition governments are not uncommon in the region, comprising in fact since 1990 a sizeable proportion of the cabinets formed post-election. Drawing on novel data collated by the authors, this article offers new macro-level comparative insi…
New Authoritarian Practices in the Middle East and North Africa
Examines new authoritarian practices and state control in MENA countries to target and neutralise dissidents Identifies the continuities and discontinuities in the practice of authoritarianism in the MENA region Promotes a comparative approach when analysing new forms of authoritarian control Offers an analysis of 17 MENA counties: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tu…
New Authoritarian Practices in the Middle East and North Africa
This book examines the new authoritarian practices MENA countries developed in the aftermath of the major uprisings in the region. These include new forms of digital surveillance (such as through internet, social media, and spyware), new protest policing practices, new forms of control over the judiciary, civil society and media, and new security and communication laws and state of emergencies. The book also emphasizes continuities with past auth…
‘HeE Freedom of No Speech’: Journalists and the Multiple Layers of Authoritarian Practices in Morocco
This chapter probes the ways in which Morocco attempts to keep control of the public space by relying on various strategies, such as the instrumentalization of the judiciary system, the invasion of the private sphere of citizens, and more subtle economic sanctions targeting critical newspapers. As it is the case with other regimes in the region, the Moroccan state is also using new technologies to engage in surveillance, control and silence criti…
Political and social mobilization in the Middle East and North Africa after the 2011 uprisings
While it is true that authoritarian rule has reasserted itself across the MENA and that democracy is no longer as appealing to the public as it was in 2011 and 2012, this should not lead to the conclusion that MENA societies have simply returned to pre-2011 situation. Thus, while the authors of this special issue acknowledge important elements of continuity with the pre-2011 period, the articles in this special issue focus on the social and polit…
Routledge Handbook on Elections in the Middle East and North Africa
Revisiting the Arab Uprisings
Ten years after the Arab uprisings, the scholarly community is preoccupied with assessing their legacy on the politics of the Arab world. Several scholars and analysts have focused on the mostly negative outcomes, pointing out that the early expectations of the triumph of democracy have ended with the retrenchment of authoritarianism, civil conflicts, and greater ideological and sectarian polarization. Other scholars have sounded a more positive …
How can we Agree on Anything in This Environment? Tunisian Media, Transition and Elite Compromises: A View From Parliament
The literature on the role of the media during processes of transitions to democracy is divided over the positive or negative influence media outlets have. Both theoretically and empirically cases can be substantiated. In the case of the 2011 Arab revolts, however, there is a scholarly consensus that the media—traditional and social—have negatively affected the processes of transitions. While the criticism of the role of the media is empirically …
From Victim to Hangman? Ennahda, Salafism and the Tunisian Transition
The article revisits the notion of post-Islamism that Roy and Bayat put forth to investigate its usefulness in analysing the Tunisian party Ennahda and its role in the Tunisian transition. The article argues that the notion of post-Islamism does not fully capture the ideological and political evolution of Islamist parties, which, despite having abandoned their revolutionary ethos, still compete in the political arena through religious categories …
Routledge Handbook on Political Parties in the Middle East and North Africa
Symposium—Islamism, Islamist Parties, and Economic Policy-Making in the Neo-Liberal Age
This article introduces the symposium on the relationship between Islamist and Salafi parties and neo-liberal economics. Through a mix of analyses of the party manifestos and ethnographic work, this symposium unveils how Islamist and Salafi parties across the Arab world and abroad have thought about the economy, how they attempted to incorporate the Islamic economy into their discourses and practices and how they have ultimately dealt with the cu…
Beyond Quietism: Party Institutionalisation, Salafism, and the Economy
Breaking with a long tradition of political quietism, many Salafis in Tunisia and Egypt decided to found political parties and participate in competitive elections after the collapse of the regime. In doing so, they had to present a political program to voters, including policy proposals on economic issues. The article examines how Salafi parties dealt with economic policy-making and finds that they reluctantly engaged with it, offering contradic…
Dimensions of security
The Arab uprisings’ failure to bring about either the scale or type of political change in the Maghreb that it initially seemed to promise belies the significance of its impact on the region. While Algeria, Mauritania and Morocco continue to be ruled by the same competitive authoritarian regimes that held power when the protests began, they, and the new governments in Tunisia and Libya, must now negotiate an altered and more dangerous security en…
Revisiting the Islamist–Secular divide: Parties and voters in the Arab world
Electoral politics in the Arab world are either portrayed as clientelistic affairs void of content or as highly ideological clashes between Islamist and Secular Left forces. Although both arguments are intuitively appealing, the empirical evidence to date is limited. This article seeks to contribute to the debate by investigating the extent of programmatic voter support for Islamist and Secular Left parties in seven Arab countries with data from …
Beyond elections: Perceptions of democracy in four Arab countries
Political Science Research in the Middle East and North Africa: Methodological and Ethical Challenges
Based on personal accounts of their experiences conducting qualitative and quantitative research in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, the contributors to this volume share the real-life obstacles they have encountered in applying research methods in practice and the possible solutions to overcome them. The volume is an important companion book to more standard methods books, which focus on the “how to” of methods but are often de…
Political Parties in the Arab World: Continuity and Change
Analyses political parties and party politics in the contemporary Arab world The Middle East is a region notorious for political systems traditionally built around absolutist monarchs and military-dependent presidents. What is the role of political parties in such a context? How do they support or undermine such authoritarian forms of rule? What part have they played in the survival and transformation of political systems after the Arab uprisings…
Moderation through exclusion? The journey of the TunisianEnnahdafrom fundamentalist to conservative party
The success of processes of democratic change is often predicated on the moderation of anti-systemic and extremist parties. The literature on such parties argues that such moderation, namely the acceptance of democratic procedures, human rights, and a market economy, comes about through inclusion. This seems to be borne out when one analyses a number of Islamist parties having contributed to the progressive democratization of their respective cou…
Divided they stand, divided they fail: Opposition politics in Morocco
The literature on democratization emphasises how authoritarian constraints usually lead genuine opposition parties and movements to form alliances in order to make demands for reform to the authoritarian regime. There is significant empirical evidence to support this theoretical point. While this trend is partly visible in the Middle East and North Africa, such coalitions are usually short-lived and limited to a single issue, never reaching the s…
Beyond elections: Perceptions of democracy in four Arab countries
The End of Authoritarian Rule and the Mythology of Tunisia under Ben Ali
Rather than concentrating on potential explanations for the Tunisian uprising or focusing on the future challenges the country has, this article looks back at the time of Ben Ali and the mythology that the regime created around political, economic and social development in Tunisia. The article argues that the authoritarian resilience paradigm and the democratization one tended to obscure the complexity of Tunisian society and how it reacted and a…
The Arab Uprisings in Theoretical Perspective – An Introduction
The so-called 'Arab Awakening' is a momentous event that surprised both scholars and policy makers. For over a decade the paradigm of authoritarian resilience had dominated studies of the Arab world, almost entirely replacing the democratization paradigm that had been prominent throughout the 1980s and 1990s. This inter-paradigm debate on how best to explain and interpret the politics of the Arab world now calls for a review, in light of the Arab…
Post-Islamism, ideological evolution and ‘latunisianité’ of the Tunisian Islamist partyal-Nahda
The electoral rise of Islamist parties following the Arab uprisings\nhas led to different political outcomes in different countries, generating a significant amount of critical engagement with the concept of post-Islamism that emerged two decades ago. This article examines the notion of post-Islamism and uses one important aspect of it to explain the continued relevance of thinking about Islamist politics through ideology. Rather than being a fai…
Civil Society Activism under Authoritarian Rule: A Comparative Perspective
1. Introduction. Civil society activism under authoritarian constraints Francesco Cavatorta 2. 'Everyday citizenship' under authoritarianism: the cases of Spain and Portugal Pedro Ramos Pinto 3. Dissident writings as political theory on civil society and democracy Marlies Glasius 4. Civil society activism and authoritarian rule in Romania and Chile. Evidence for the role played by art(ists) Caterina Preda 5.Contesting order in Tunisia: crafting p…
Salafism in Tunisia: Challenges and Opportunities for Democratization
Strengthening Authoritarian Rule through Democracy Promotion? Examining the Paradox of the US and EU Security Strategies: The Case of Bin Ali's Tunisia
Since the end of the Cold War, much has been made about the crises that recurrently characterize the transatlantic relationship. Since the attacks of September 11th and the war in Iraq, such a crisis, according to many, has developed into a fully-fledged rift, which is beyond repair. The different views and policies of the US and EU in the Middle East are usually held as a paradigmatic example of the differences that exist between the two actors.…
The EU's democratization agenda in the Mediterranean: A Critical Inside-Out Approach
Democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a central pillar of the foreign policy of both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), despite the failure of ‘democracy by imposition ’ in Iraq. A recent relative military success in fighting insurgents still leaves a problematic political reality where war
Will the Real Tunisian Opposition Please Stand Up? Opposition Coordination Failures under Authoritarian Constraints
This contribution examines the reasons behind the failure of Tunisia's opposition to forge effective coordination and collaborative links during Ben Ali's reign, focusing specifically on the inability and unwillingness of political parties to act in concert in order to challenge his authoritarian rule. Focusing on two attempts at opposition coordination in the 2000s (Rencontre Démocratique and 18 October Collectif), it demonstrates that a number …
Revisiting the Islamist–Secular divide: Parties and voters in the Arab world
Electoral politics in the Arab world are either portrayed as clientelistic affairs void of content or as highly ideological clashes between Islamist and Secular Left forces. Although both arguments are intuitively appealing, the empirical evidence to date is limited. This article seeks to contribute to the debate by investigating the extent of programmatic voter support for Islamist and Secular Left parties in seven Arab countries with data from …
Civil Society in Syria and Iran: Activism in Authoritarian Contexts
Explores the nature of state-society relations in two countries that are experiencing popular demands for political pluralism amid the constraints of authoritarian retrenchment
Salafism, liberalism, and democratic learning in Tunisia
The article charts the rise of the jihadi Salafi movement in Tunisia during the transitional period and analyses the way in which the national attempt to construct a more liberal and democratic system influenced its internal dynamics and debate. It highlights in particular how democratic mechanisms and liberal norms being put in place in Tunisia impacted on the movement and how then this was reflected in its interactions with the other social and…
Vive la grande famille des médias tunisiens ’ Media reform, authoritarian resilience and societal responses in Tunisia
The concept of authoritarian upgrading introduced by Heydemann significantly contributes to explain how Arab authoritarian rulers have been able to maintain their grip on power while introducing a number of liberal reforms. The media reform in Tunisia has been widely interpreted indeed as one of those liberal reforms implemented to give domestic and international constituencies the sentiment that genuine liberalisation is under way in the country…
The Convergence of Governance: Upgrading Authoritarianism in the Arab World and Downgrading Democracy Elsewhere
The article presents a study concerning political change in Arab countries. It mentions that inquiring the validity of the democratization paradigm in the Arab countries implies a significant case, since their countries have not experienced transition to democracy. The study involves a discussion against exceptionalism and democracy-spotting, since Arab countries have applied semi-democracy to their governments. It tries not to tackle the issue o…
Democracy, Civil Liberties and the Role of Religion after the Arab Awakening: Constitutional Reforms in Tunisia and Morocco
The electoral results following the Arab Awakening have rewarded Islamist parties in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. Their arrival in power sparked once more intense scholarly and policy debates related to the relationship between Islamism, democracy and individual rights. This article examines that relationship in the context of the constitutional debates in Morocco and Tunisia, which have seen the prominent role of Islamist parties in attempting to…
Civil society, Islamism and democratisation: The case of Morocco
The positive role that an active civil society plays in processes of democratisation is often highlighted in the literature. However, when it comes to the Middle East and North Africa, such activism is considered to be detrimental to democratisation because the predominant role is played by Islamist groups. The explanation for this rests with the perceived 'uncivil' and undemocratic Islamist ethos of such groups. This paper challenges this assump…
Iranian student activism between authoritarianism and democratization: Patterns of conflict and cooperation between the Office for the Strengthening of Unity and the regime
This article examines the role of student activism in enhancing or weakening democratization in authoritarian contexts, focusing on the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It contends that while numerous studies indicate that student activism has been crucial in processes of regime change, insufficient attention has been paid to the circumstances under which it contributes to strengthening authoritarian rule. The case of Iran demonstrates that …
Introduction: Religiously Oriented Parties and Democratization
The role of religion in politics is still understudied as a consequence of the so-called "secularization paradigm", which has been hegemonic in twentieth-century social sciences. Particularly, the role of religiosity within political parties has often been neglected for two reasons. First, there is a widespread normative prejudice about the role of religions in democratic and democratizing systems, where they are perceived to be illiberal and pot…
Salafist movement and sheikh-ism in the Tunisian democratic transition
The article examines the complexity of Tunisian Salafism in the context of the Tunisian transition to democracy. Building on primary sources and original field work, the article highlights the theoretical and practical divergences that affect the Salafist camp in Tunisia in its struggle to continue a revolutionary project for a sector of disenfranchised youth unwilling to support a process of renewal of political institutions that they perceive a…
The international context of Morocco's stalled democratization
Scholars of democratization have recently renewed their efforts to examine the influence of the international context in processes of transitions, by bridging comparative politics and international relations. This article contributes to this growing literature through an analysis of Morocco's stalled democratization in the light of its external context. International factors have been introduced in analyses of democratization only very recently a…
Continuity and change in party positions towards Europe in Italian parties: An Examination of Parties' Manifestos
This paper analyses Italian parties' manifestos for national and European elections from 1979 to 1999 with the 'Wordscore' programme in order to gauge whether party positions with regard to the European Union have changed and whether the salience of the European Union has increased. Results indicate that, although there is no sign of increased salience, the leading Italian political parties have repositioned themselves in their attitudes towards …
Geopolitical Challenges to the Success of Democracy in North Africa: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco
The promotion of democracy in developing countries has been at the top of the foreign policy agenda of most western countries in the last decade. This stems from the liberal sentiment that the spread of democracy is the basis for international peace. However, the continuities of power politics outnumber the novelties of the international environment. This paper argues that processes of democratisation cannot be simply understood in light of the r…
Political Opposition in Civil Society: An Analysis of the Interactions of Secular and Religious Associations in Algeria and Jordan
The lack of effective political parties is one of the dominant characteristics of modern Arab polities. The role of opposition to the authoritarian regimes is therefore left to a number of civil society organizations. This study examines the interactions among such groups in the context of the traditional transition paradigm and it analyses specifically how religious and secular organizations operate and interact. The empirical evidence shows tha…
Geopolitical Challenges to the Success of Democracy in North Africa: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco
The promotion of democracy in developing countries has been at the top of the foreign policy agenda of most western countries in the last decade. This stems from the liberal sentiment that the spread of democracy is the basis for international peace. However, the continuities of power politics outnumber the novelties of the international environment. This paper argues that processes of democratisation cannot be simply understood in light of the r…
The role of the Northern League in transforming the Italian political system: From economic federalism to ethnic politics and back
Until the early 1990s, Italy displayed a stable party system, where newcomers found it particularly difficult to challenge the overwhelming influence of the traditional parties: Christian Democrats (DC), Socialist Party (PSI), and Communist Party (PCI). New political formations managed to emerge, but they were largely unable to sustain their electoral success over a long period of time and failed to establish themselves as credible alternatives. …
Economic Actors' Political Activity in 'Overlap Issues: Privatisation and EU State Aid Control
This article considers the political activity of economic actors in what we refer to as 'overlap issues'. The cases examined here are the domestic level privatisation policy-making processes in Spain, France and Ireland, and the subsequent European Commission decisions on state aids given during the sales. Although the influence of economic actors is crucial in understanding the domestic-level privatisation aid negotiations, such actors' particip…
The failed liberalisation of Algeria and the international context: A Legacy of Stable Authoritarianism
The paper attempts to challenge the somewhat marginal role of international factors in the study of transitions to democracy. Theoretical and practical difficulties in proving causal mechanisms between international variables and domestic outcomes can be overcome by defining the international dimension in terms of Western dominance of world politics and by identifying Western actions towards democratising countries. The paper focuses on the case …
The Iraq War: Killing Dreams of A Unified EU
For students of EU public policy, the Union's reaction during and after the Iraq War may represent the same story of impotence that has historically plagued Europe when trying to present a united front during major world crises. The EU had been divided over the Iraq sanctions issue for quite some time and the divisions became deeper as the US put increasing pressure on Saddam Hussein's regime. With the US pushing for decisive action against Iraq'…
Continuity and change in party positions towards Europe in Italian parties: An Examination of Parties' Manifestos
This paper analyses Italian parties' manifestos for national and European elections from 1979 to 1999 with the 'Wordscore' programme in order to gauge whether party positions with regard to the European Union have changed and whether the salience of the European Union has increased. Results indicate that, although there is no sign of increased salience, the leading Italian political parties have repositioned themselves in their attitudes towards …
Finding a party and losing some friends: Overcoming the weaknesses of the prime ministerial figure in Italy
Silvio Berlusconi poses a problem for the existing literature on prime ministers and their power. Though Italian prime ministers are traditionally seen as weak, Berlusconi has been able to achieve some remarkable policy gains during his current term as prime minister. This article uses veto player theory and combines it with existing institutional and political explanations for variation in prime ministerial power to look at this challenging case…
Constructing an open model of transition: The Case of North Africa
This article puts forth an open model of transition to democracy challenging the conventional wisdom of the literature on processes of democratisation, which focuses almost exclusively on domestic factors. International variables are thus at the centre of explanations for regime change. The article argues that transitions do not occur in a vacuum and presents a theoretical model that can be useful to analyse external–internal linkages. The model …
The international context of Morocco's stalled democratization
Scholars of democratization have recently renewed their efforts to examine the influence of the international context in processes of transitions, by bridging comparative politics and international relations. This article contributes to this growing literature through an analysis of Morocco's stalled democratization in the light of its external context. International factors have been introduced in analyses of democratization only very recently a…
Forgetting democratization? Recasting power and authority in a plural Muslim world
Civil society, Islamism and democratisation: The case of Morocco
The positive role that an active civil society plays in processes of democratisation is often highlighted in the literature. However, when it comes to the Middle East and North Africa, such activism is considered to be detrimental to democratisation because the predominant role is played by Islamist groups. The explanation for this rests with the perceived 'uncivil' and undemocratic Islamist ethos of such groups. This paper challenges this assump…
Neither Participation nor Revolution: The Strategy of the Moroccan Jamiat al-Adl wal-Ihsan
Scholars and students of Islamist movements are divided over the issue of Islamists' commitment to democracy and a number of studies have attempted to discover the true nature of Islamist parties. This paper rejects this approach and argues that the behaviour of Islamist parties can be better understood through an analysis of the constraints and opportunities that their surrounding environment provides. Specifically, the paper aims at explaining …
More than Repression: The Significance of Divide et Impera in the Middle East and North Africa –The Case of Morocco
Normative foundations in EU foreign, security and defence policy: The case of the Middle East peace process—a view from the field
The paper examines the normative foundations of EU foreign and security policy against the context of one of the world's most intractable disputes, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Recent scholarship has developed a thesis that the European Union -perhaps uniquely -is a 'normative power,' an international actor dedicated to the export of values and norms rather than (or in addition to?) the pursuit of interests.This generates a number of question…
Civil Society, Democracy Promotion and Islamism on the Southern Shores of the Mediterranean
Janine, Clark, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-253-34306-2 (hb), $49.95, pp.256 Democracy and Authoritarianism in the Arab World Nicola, Pratt, Boulder, Lynne Rienner, 2007, ISB
Political Opposition in Civil Society: An Analysis of the Interactions of Secular and Religious Associations in Algeria and Jordan
The lack of effective political parties is one of the dominant characteristics of modern Arab polities. The role of opposition to the authoritarian regimes is therefore left to a number of civil society organizations. This study examines the interactions among such groups in the context of the traditional transition paradigm and it analyses specifically how religious and secular organizations operate and interact. The empirical evidence shows tha…
Strengthening Authoritarian Rule through Democracy Promotion? Examining the Paradox of the US and EU Security Strategies: The Case of Bin Ali's Tunisia
Since the end of the Cold War, much has been made about the crises that recurrently characterize the transatlantic relationship. Since the attacks of September 11th and the war in Iraq, such a crisis, according to many, has developed into a fully-fledged rift, which is beyond repair. The different views and policies of the US and EU in the Middle East are usually held as a paradigmatic example of the differences that exist between the two actors.…
The international dimension of the failed Algerian transition: Democracy Betrayed
The EU's democratization agenda in the Mediterranean: A Critical Inside-Out Approach
Democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a central pillar of the foreign policy of both the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), despite the failure of ‘democracy by imposition ’ in Iraq. A recent relative military success in fighting insurgents still leaves a problematic political reality where war
Divided they stand, divided they fail: Opposition politics in Morocco
The literature on democratization emphasises how authoritarian constraints usually lead genuine opposition parties and movements to form alliances in order to make demands for reform to the authoritarian regime. There is significant empirical evidence to support this theoretical point. While this trend is partly visible in the Middle East and North Africa, such coalitions are usually short-lived and limited to a single issue, never reaching the s…
Diverging or converging dynamics? EU and US policies in North Africa - an introduction
According to a number of scholars of international relations, the transatlantic relationship is going through a very significant and possibly irreversible crisis. It is claimed that the different reactions of the United States and the European Union to both September 11th and the war in Iraq were the catalyst for a rift that had been deepening for some time, leading to competition between the two actors. The literature on the foreign policy of th…
Liberal outcomes through undemocratic means: The reform of theCode de statut personnelin Morocco
The 2004 reform of the family code in Morocco has been held as one of the most significant liberal reforms undertaken in the country, and has led scholars and policy makers to argue that this demonstrates the democratic progress Morocco and the King are making. At the same time, the role of the women's movement in getting the reform approved has seemingly confirmed that associational life is crucial in promoting democratisation. This paper, build…
Reforming the Family Code in Tunisia and Morocco – the Struggle between Religion, Globalisation and Democracy
There is no doubt that one of the most contentious terrains of contestation in the supposed clash of values between Islamism and western values is the role of women in society. Thus, the issue of women's rights has become the litmus test for Arab societies with respect to the current zeitgeist of human rights in the age of democracy and liberalism. There is today a stereotypical view of debates surrounding women's rights in the Arab world where t…
The Convergence of Governance: Upgrading Authoritarianism in the Arab World and Downgrading Democracy Elsewhere
The article presents a study concerning political change in Arab countries. It mentions that inquiring the validity of the democratization paradigm in the Arab countries implies a significant case, since their countries have not experienced transition to democracy. The study involves a discussion against exceptionalism and democracy-spotting, since Arab countries have applied semi-democracy to their governments. It tries not to tackle the issue o…
Yes, He Can’: A Reappraisal of Syrian Foreign Policy under Bashar al-Asad
Barry Rubin Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, ISBN 978-0-230-60407-0 (pb), £13, pp.304 Eyal Zisser London, I.B. Tauris, 2007, ISBN 978-1-8451-1153-3 (hb), £56, pp.300 Jorg Dostal and Anja Zoro
Political science (84 works) · Law (78 works) · Politics (75 works) · Political economy (66 works) · Sociology (61 works) · Law (52 works) · Democracy (49 works) · Economics (39 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (36 works) · Authoritarianism (28 works)