Political Parties in the Arab World ― Continuity and Change

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.

Francesco Cavatorta is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada. He is author of The International Dimension of the Failed Algerian Transition: Democracy Betrayed? (2009), editor of State-Society Relations Under Authoritarian Constraints (2012) and co-editor of Civil Society Activism in Syria and Iran (2013).

Lise Storm is Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter. She is author of Party Politics and Prospects for Democracy in North Africa (2013) and Democratisation in Morocco: The Political Elite and Struggles for Power in the Post-Independence State (2007).