Explaining (and re-explaining) political change in the Middle East during the Arab Spring: trajectories of democratization and of authoritarianism in the Maghreb

The European Union and neoliberal governmentality: Twinning in Tunisia and Egypt

“…The emphasis on development capacity, however, leaves untouched the three decades of (neo)liberal economic reforms implemented by Tunisian and Egyptian governments since the 1980s (Bergh, 2012;Pace and Cavatorta, 2012). The construction of reality around local capacities inevitably distances attention from the national market liberalisation and privatisation policies in these two countries that have generated mass poverty and uneven economic growth, worsened income inequalities and urban disparities, exacerbated unemployment, social exclusion and marginalisation, deepened rural underdevelopment, and widened local, national and regional asymmetries (Cavatorta and Haugbølle, 2012;Ismail, 2011;Volpi, 2013).…”

EU Democracy Promotion and the Arab Spring

“…Tolerating a greater degree of pluralism and (limited) contestation, the regime did not face a similar level of pent-up frustration as in Tunisia or Egypt (Volpi 2012). Morocco had seen demonstrations of the unemployed before the Arab Spring and the regime had always been able to contain protests with a mix of repression and promises to alleviate their situation (Bogaert and Emperador 2011).…”

“…There is a growing body of literature that, from a comparative perspective, focuses on a range of domestic factors in order to account for these differences (Bellin 2012;Brynen et al 2012;Gerges 2014;Haseeb 2013;Larémont 2014;Lesch and Haas 2012;Sika 2013;Volpi 2012). While the Arab uprisings were clearly and primarily shaped by domestic actors and factors, the concurrence of active cooperation on democracy and human rights on the one hand, and the resilience to protests on the other, is nevertheless striking.…”

Eternity clauses in post-conflict and post-authoritarian constitution-making: Promise and limits

“…The previous regime has been described as 'one of the most personalistic' models of authoritarian governance in the region 94 , with president Ben Ali repeatedly amending the 1959 constitution to allow for his re-election. 95 In such a context, fears of the re-emergence of a strong-man regime dominated negotiations over limitations on executive powers, not just via Article 75, but also via the choice of semipresidentialism as the form of government.…”