However, most analysts have framed recent events in terms of their immediate past and. Instead, a new arab political identity with an antidespotic, pluralis t and democracyseekin g approach is dawning. Pdf the arab uprising, islamists and democratization. Democracy is perhaps the most oftquoted term in political science scholarship. It breaks new ground in very deliberately, thoughtfully, and parsimoniously applying the lessons of theory and experience to the transition processes underway in the arab world. Arab spring used their powers vehemently to crush the demonstrators and consequently the peaceful protesters also became violent. Massachusetts institute of technology press for an in depth analysis of civil society. Thus, this chapter aims to contribute to the identification and discussion of those important areas for research within the discipline. More than five years after the arab spring began, the euphoria that accompanied the regions early uprisings has been replaced by a dogged realism. Global debates and local challenges 2010 and the dynamics of opposition cooperation in the arab world 20. Understanding the arc of events surrounding this period is important both for theory and for policy. Professor stepan began his professional life as a special foreign correspondent for the economist. The authors of beyond the arab spring offer a thoughtful, thorough, and timely foundation for thinking about that question.
But political pluralism, human rights, freedom, and a presence of a civil society generally constitute a modern democracy. Ralph schoolcraft department of international studies the arab spring has been misidentified as purely a struggle for democracy and political. To investigate the role of interelite trust, we develop a theoreticalanalytical framework, drawing on arab spring literature, transition theory, scholarship on democratic consolidation, and. Special attention is paid to the question of whether the arab spring falls into the framework of huntingtons theory, or whether it can be classified as a new fourth wave of democratization in. Mihajlo mihajlov soviet reaction, russian reform gail w. The arab spring as a challenge to political science. Not only do the big powers never get tired of prettifying client states to keep the oil flowing, the most cynical accounts will say that there is indeed a concerted attempt at setting up regimes that. Pdf in this chapter, we will continue to discuss arab revolutions in a wide historical and theoretical. Survey data has consistently revealed that among the regions of the world that are least democratic, the arab middle east has repeatedly topped the list. The term arab spring, connotes a just rebellion that led to toppling dictators and authoritarian rulers, yet in the sharia state, bassam tibi challenges the unchecked assumption that the seizure of leadership by islamists is a part of the democratization of the middle east.
This chapter seeks reasons for why the events of the arab spring occurred and if the u. Democracys third wave national endowment for democracy. Various individual and group participants in the arab spring have noticeably embraced and reaffirmed predominant patterns of human expectation and claims occurring worldwide regarding individual dignity and worth, selfdetermination of peoples, related human rights with respect to relatively free and genuine participation in governmental. The routledge handbook of the arab spring seeks to provide a departure point for ongoing discussion of a fluid phenomenon on a plethora of topics, including. In the aftermath of the arab spring, democracy in the arab world seems farther away today than at any point in the last 25 years. The arab uprisings that began in 2010 removed four presidents and made more mobilized mass publics an increased factor in the politics of regional states. To politically analyze the neverending arab spring, is a difficult task today as the arab spring continues to evolve and change by daily events. Introduction the arab spring also known as the arab uprising is a revolutionary wave of protests that started in 2011 and spread throughout the arab world. International journal of social sciences, iii1, 2014 the.
Arab spring, revolution, democratization, theory of resistance, rebellion, terrorism. The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. Popular uprisings and the politics of repression library of modern middle east studies burns, sean on. Authoritarianism and democratization in the arab w orld, rex brynen et al. Esposito, john voll, and tamara sonn examine the state of democracy in muslimmajority societies today.
Rioters looted and burned the american cooperative. I argue that feminist theory like gendered agency, has not been given enough. Causes of the arab spring causes of the arab spring may be described as following. The meme of the arab spring is characterised by bottomup change, or the lack thereof, and its effects are still unfurling today. Nothing happened even in the time of western values penetration in the middle east after the attacks on iraq and afghanistan. The democratic transition in eastern europe after the downfall of the soviet union often served explicitly or implicitly as a comparative model.
The two indices show that in reality, in three countries affected by the arab spring, democracy significantly improved. Pdf this article surveys political activities of selected islamists in three arab countries in the mediterranean. The landscape of the middle east has changed dramatically since 2011, as have the political arena and the discourse around democracy. The arab spring was a phenomenon that shocked the international community. The isis crisis and the broken politics of the middle east. Moreover, although its specific focus is on the arab context, its analysis will be of issues. The purpose of this article is to examine the causes, features, and transition processes of the arab spring in tunisia, egypt, libya, and yemen in correlation with huntingtons theorization on the third wave of democratization which, along. Pdf is the arab spring in the third wave of democratization.
Popular uprisings and the politics of repression library of modern middle east studies. Numerous such modes of transition have been identified, reflecting variations in the role of elites and masses in confronting the authoritarian regime, the degree to which the transition is managed by elites from the old regime, the speed with which the transition occurs, and the degree to which the new democratic regime. The main initial problematic of the arab uprising was how to translate mass protest into democratization and ultimately democratic consolidation. Democratic transition and the arab spring lund university. Critics of the arab spring argue the success of the iraqi democracy is a result of the u. Social movements and democratization from below, like the dtps sprung out of the arabian spring, cannot be explained entirely by old mainstream theories such as topdown economic and social perspectives. Special attention is paid to the question of whether the arab spring falls into the framework of huntingtons theory, or whether it can be classified as a new fourth wave of democratization in countries that have unfavorable environments for democracy. Roots and causes of the arab uprisings there is a consensu s among politica l analysts regardin g the cocktai l of major factors that, when combined, created the socia l explosio n known as the 2011 arab uprisings.
Democratization and authoritarianism in the arab world a. However, the arab world is currently experiencing massive. The emergence of isis in 2014 brought back to centre stage a series of very old and very troubling questions about the integrity and viability of the iraqi state. In the heady days of 2011 the arab spring seemed to many like a hopeful sign of entrenched dictatorships falling like dominos to make way for new democratic systems, but in fact the complex socioeconomic and political dynamics of each country have resulted in the arab spring being little more than an empty slogan. The success of democratization in post arab spring societies kirkova, r. Chloe mulderig abstract many scholars have focused on the political factors in particular, the desire for regime change and democratization as central motivations for the arab spring revolutions of 2011. Seen from a perspective of time, the dtp is a crucial period when it comes to form conditions. The role of the media, and especially the social media, in the arab spring has been extensively debated in academia. Other countries most noticeably, syria and recently egypt as well are still in the midst of a violent process, and the ultimate outcome remains uncertain. Beginning in december 2010, a series of uprisings swept the arab world, toppling four longtime leaders and creating an apparent political opening in a region long impervious to the third wave of democratization. Democratization theory and the arab spring johns hopkins. The media was awash with expectations of a secular democratic upheaval that was about to.
Request pdf democratization theory and the arab spring more than twentyfive years have passed since the publication of transitions from authoritarian rule. Linz is sterling professor emeritus of political and social science at yale university. The arab world is charting a revolutionary path through an era of unfamiliar democratization, and there is no way to predict the outcome until it is over. The economic conditions that bred a political uprising. Analysis of the arab spring 3 blunders in state response, in particular using a heavyhanded approach and trying to crush opposition, had the reverse effect of galvanising more people to join the protests icg, 2011b and 2011d. In light of the arab spring, how should students of democratic transition rethink the relation between religion and democracy. Social media and social mobilisation in the middle east. Section 2 introduces the model, section 2 solves it, section 3 provides some anecdotal evidence, and section 5 brie y concludes. The current revolutions taki ng place across the arab world is the dominant focus of international relations scholars today. The critical descriptions, explanations, and analyses of the arab spring rank among the major recent challenges within political science. Images of bouazizi, hospitalized with burns, passed. Democratization theory and the arab spring alfred stepan juan j. Triggers, dynamics and prospects stephan rosiny on 17 december 2010, the selfimmolation of tunisian vegetable vendor mohammed bouazizi sparked the arab spring. Lapidus oleg rumyantsev liu binyan on china larry diamond on nigeria gehad auda on egypt sungjoo han on korea overcoming underdevelopment.
Democratization theorists have identified different patterns of interaction among social groups that shape the way democratization unfolds in a particular environment. Pdf arab spring, revolutions, and the democratic values. This may entail inculcation of ideas, values, and practices so that society and relationships are based on ideas of justice and equity. Experts have associated the collapse of several dictatorships in the middle east and north africa, phenomenon known as arab spring, with the events which followed the fall of the soviet union in eastern europe. The arab uprisings and international relations theory. Apr 01, 2014 three years after the first mass protests of the arab spring, senior scholars weigh in on how democracy is faring.
Linz journal of democracy, volume 24, number 2, april 20, pp. This paper argues that we ought to understand the arab spring as transformative revolutionary movement, but one that will be faced with numerous bumps in the road ahead. Dec 17, 2014 the routledge handbook of the arab spring seeks to provide a departure point for ongoing discussion of a fluid phenomenon on a plethora of topics, including. In this article, we first reexamine the relationship between democracy and the twin tolerations in the worlds muslimmajority countries that are democraciesindonesia, turkey, senegal and tunisia, as well as in muslimminority india. December 2010, when a fruitseller, mohamed bouazizi, burnt himself to death. Linz alfred stepan is wallace sayre professor of government and founding director of the center for the study of democracy, toleration, and religion at columbia university. The arab spring and the question of legality of democratic revolution in theory and practice.
Nov, 2012 a specialist on democratization, civilmilitary relations, federalism, and religion in politics, he has traveled repeatedly to egypt and tunisia since the arab spring. Bunker regimes arab monarchies have been the least affected by the arab spring, echoing eva bellins suggestion that the truisms of the. It is a mistake to build a theory of democratization around a particular kind. Within a few months, a wave of protest had swept away the despots of tunisia, egypt and libya. Lee, colorado college the authors bring a sophisticated, multidimensional perspective to the analysis of middle eastern authoritarianism, most notably in their sensitivity to the complex international. The common slogan of the protesters throughout arab spring was the people want to bring down the regime aissa, 2012. If it is to ever arrive, it will likely be through a more evolutionary and elitedriven process. Parsing arab spring northwestern university in qatar. Press, 1999 and jillian schwedler, faith in moderation.
Islamism, arab spring, and the future of democracy, pp. Rethinking democratization routledge handbooks pdf, epub, docx and torrent then this site is not for you. Of course, already in 2011 the most burning question. The arab uprisings and ir theory business elites, and state actors. Sep 01, 2017 democratization in a broad sense is a continuous process of sensitization and practice of given, rationalized, normative conditions to regulate relations among the state, society, and individuals. In egypt, after the 2011 revolution and the 2012 elections, it became evident that the newly born egyptian democracy will have to overcome a hostile environment full of skepticism, coupled with huge external challenges, such as keeping intact the peace treaty with israel, the distribution of hydraulic resources agreement with the countries of. Arab spring and democratization challenges the unchecked assumption that the seizure of leadership by islamists in egypt and t unisia is part of the democratisation of the mena, providing a new. Starting with tunisia in december of 2010, the citizens of egypt, libya, and iran all voiced dissatisfaction with their governing leaders within the same period. What does the arab spring imply for democratization theory. If youre looking for a free download links of routledge handbook of the arab spring.
Paola rivetti is a lecturer in the politics of the middle east and international relations at dublin city university. The tumultuous events that have swept through the middle east during the last year or so were widely referred to in the west as the arab spring. Included are the results of a bibliometric study that compared the frequency in which various descriptors appeared in major englishlanguage news sources. Linz was working on when he passed away in october 20, he and his coauthors draw lessons from the european experience about whether and how arab monarchies might aid or resist democratic development. Why did the arab spring revolutions fail to achieve liberal democracy. The similarity between the two phenomena inspired hope for a fourth wave of democratization. The arab spring was caused by a multitude of factors economic, political, social, cultural and religious, but its origins also lay in belief.
Pdf the arab spring and theories of democratization. The middle east, democratization, and the arab spring. It was not long before the arab spring quickly faded into what may now be a long winter. In some countries, it emerges that there has been no significant change in the level of democracy. Islamists and the arab spring journal of democracy. As the term arab spring implies a positive assessment, it isor rather wasoften used with the expectation that the arab uprisings had triggered a transition to democracy. Pdf in this paper, i will analyze the participation of egypt and syria in the arab spring using huntingtons theory of third wave democratization. Democratization theory and the arab spring request pdf. Democratization theory and the arab spring alfred stepan and juan j. The july 3, 20, military coup that ended egypts attempted democratic transition received massive support from saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, and other gulf states, which allowed the junta to deflect american pressure to reverse the coup.
The success of democratization in post arab spring societies. The delay in this prophecy for two decades motivates us to question whether the arab spring is part of huntingtons third wave of democratization or a new fourth wave of democratization, or even a false start to democracy, as described by larry diamond. Literature on the arab spring uprisings, as well as that on nationalism, revolutions, and transitions broadly, indicates that while there has not yet been a central focus on nationalism as a variable affecting countries trajectories in the arab spring, this is potentially a crucial and fruitful linkage to explore. The arab spring and the question of legality of democratic. It is a prodemocracy demonstration which has been sweeping through middle east and north african since 2010. Libya, tunisia and the arab spring jason william boose international journal of social science and humanity, vol. Has the arab spring brought about real democratization in the arab world. Any discussion of islamist radicalization lends itself to analytical confusion, particularly if were looking for an elegant model of why. The change of moving towards democracy is referred to as a democratic transition process dtp. Democratization theory and the arab spring journal of. It is a pro democracy demonstration which has been sweeping through middle east and north african since 2010.
Yemen syria bahrain the arab spring democratization failure. Democratization in a broad sense is a continuous process of sensitization and practice of given, rationalized, normative conditions to regulate relations among the state, society, and individuals. From the indignant graffiti scrawled on walls across tunis to the wartorn neighborhoods of damascus and tripoli, the region and the worlds hopes of establishing peace and democracy have largely faded. Democratization in the arab world is an excellent book that fills a need for concise profiles of democratic transitions and the lessons that can be drawn from them. During the third wave of democratization the expectations were directed to the arab world. The study of democratization and the arab spring general guide.
Contexts and contests of democratisation the sweep of the arab spring egypt women and the arab spring agents of change and the technology of protest impact of the arab spring in the wider. Through the unique contributions of each of its authors, this book will offer a muchneeded addition to the study of middle east politics and the arab spring. International law, dignity, democracy, and the arab spring. Democratization theory and the arab spring journal of democracy. Arab spring provoked, particularly the role of the media new and otherwise in empowering and even causing the uprisings.
Therefore, cases from the arab revolutions and dtps in the menaregion1, stresses the importance. In islam and democracy after the arab spring, john l. Theories and debates on why democratization succeeds or fails 15. Democratization in the arab world rand corporation. Politics comes first gadi wolfsfeld 1, elad segev2, and tamir sheafer3 abstract the goal of this article is to place the role that social media plays in collective action within a more general theoretical structure, using the events of the arab spring. A perspective based on the african union normative framework volume 27 issue 4 kalkidan obse. The leap forward is the first step, but when in transition. He served as the gladstone professor of government at all souls college, oxford.
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