Change without democratization in the Arab world
The article argues that democratisation processes must be assessed structurally,
that is in terms of the institutionalisation of the participation of all social interests
in fundamental political and economic decision-making. In that perspective,
the political change that has been taking place in the Arab World in the last three
decades does not lead to a process of democratisation. Nor are recent reforms preliminary
to it. They are functional to and legitimise a restructuring of the power
system that does not change the authoritarian nature of the Arab regimes, but – on
the contrary – contributes to their continuation while, at the same time, effectively
excluding large part of the population from an active political and economic role.