Democratic Transitions in the Arab World

In the wake of the unprecedented uprisings that swept across North Africa and the Middle East in late 2010 and 2011, there was much speculation that these events heralded the beginning of a new age of democratic transition across the region. The result of a four-year research project, this book offers a cross-country analysis of the dynamics of democratic transition and of the state of democracy and authoritarianism from Tunisia, Sudan and Egypt to Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon. Elbadawi and Makdisi identify specific economic, political and social conditions influencing the transition across the region and in each of the individual countries, as well as the requisite conditions for consolidating democracy once the process is initiated. It examines the struggling, halted and painful transitions, where these have for the time being failed, as well as instances in which democratic consolidation can be observed. This is a unique and wide-ranging examination of Arab development and democracy for those examining the fate of authoritarian regimes.

Introduction Ibrahim Elbadawi and Samir Makdisi; Part I. Conceptual and Cross-Country Perspectives: 1. Explaining democratic transitions in the Arab world Ibrahim Elbadawi and Samir Makdisi; 2. Overcoming induced insecurities: stabilising Arab democracies after the Spring Abdelwahab El-Affendi; Part II. Case Studies: Successful, Protracted and Painful Transitions: 3. Tunisia: the prospects for democratic consolidation Mongi Boughzala and Saoussen Ben Romdhane; 4. Egypt: the protracted transition from authoritarianism to democracy and social justice Noha El Mikawy, Mohamed Mohieddin and Sarah El Ashmaouy; 5. Syria: the painful transition towards democracy Raed Safadi and Simon Neaime; 6. Kuwaiti democracy: elusive or resilient? Ibrahim Elbadawi and Atif Kubursi; 7. Lebanon: sectarian consociationalism and the transition to a fully fledged democracy Samir Makdisi and Youssef El Khalil; 8. Sudan: transition to democracy after 2011, a dismembered state navigating uncertainties Atta Elbattahani; Part III. Concluding Observations: 9. Resistance to and prospects for democracy Ibrahim Elbadawi and Samir Makdisi.

Ibrahim Elbadawi is Director of the Macroeconomics Research and Forecasting Department at the Dubai Economic Council and Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC. Until recently, he was Lead Economist at the Development Research Group of The World Bank.
Samir Makdisi is Professor Emeritus of Economics and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. He is the co-editor (with Ibrahim Elbadawi) of Democracy in the Arab World: Explaining the Deficit (2011), and has contributed numerous articles and chapters on the subject.