When Revolutionary Coalitions Break Down

Polarization, Protest, and the Tunisian Political Crisis of August 2013

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6160845
AutoresCeil Berman (0000-0003-4861-6923, Princeton University, autor correspondente)
Ano2019
Volume11
Fascículo2
Páginas136-179
Data de publicação2019-11-24
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoMiddle East Law and Governance (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1876-3367 • E-ISSN: 1876-3375
EditoraBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/18763375-01102003
OpenAlexW2991402175
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas11
Referências citadas44

Revolutionary coalitions often break down in the aftermath of revolution, leading to the collapse of transitional governments. Fragmentation among revolutionary elites has been extensively theorized, but few works consider the origins and consequences of polarization among non-elite protesters in the revolutionary coalition. This paper examines the case of Tunisia to unpack how polarization among former revolutionaries may drive secondary waves of mobilization that imperil governing coalitions, even when elites are cooperating. Unique protest surveys of pro- and anti-government demonstrations during the Tunisian political crisis of 2013 – which catalyzed the resignation of the country’s first elected assembly – show that polarization within this coalition occurred along ideological lines concerning the role of Islam in governance but not along class lines, as some theories of transition would predict. Revolutionaries are re-mobilized in part through divergent narratives concerning which social groups participated most in the revolutionary struggle, and which groups suffered and profited most under the old regime. This paper counters the elite-centrism of predominant “transitology” approaches by highlighting how protest politics may shape institutional transitions

Corporate governance · Economics · Elite · Ideology · Islam · Narrative · Polarization (electrochemistry · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · History · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Society in Latin America · Religion and Society Interactions