Political Parties in the Arab World : Continuity and Change

Abstract

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? What are the policy preferences of party elites and how do they connect with citizens’ expectations? How do parties challenge and reflect the main social cleavages? Finally, what is the genuine significance of parties and party politics in a region struggling for some sort of democratic future? This book attempts to answer these questions through a thorough theoretical and empirical examination and analysis of the most important aspects and traits of political parties and party politics in the Arab world, exploring cases from across the region.

Key Features

• Sets out an innovative research agenda on a under-studied topic

• Provides a comparative perspective on political parties across the region

• Analyses the ways in which political parties in the Arab world matter and develop

• Offers a more systematic understanding of the functioning of Arab regimes by incorporating the role political parties play in them

• Includes case studies of Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Kuwait, Lebanon and Palestine

Contributors

• Larissa Alles, University of St. Andrews

• Aurelie Daher, Université Paris-Dauphine

• Loes Debuysere, Ghent University

• Sophie A Edwards, Independent Researcher

• Anass El Kyak, Université Laval

• Manal A. Jamal, James Madison University

• Amir Magdy Kamel, King’s College London

• Hendrik Kraetzschmar, University of Leeds

• Raquel Ojeda-García, University of Granada

• Zoltan Pall, National University of Singapore

• Valeria Resta, University of Milan

• Anne Wolf, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford

• Mohammad Yaghi, Queen’s University in Kingston