Why Resistance to the Executive Power Grab in Tunisia Is Failing

Alexandra Domike Blackman

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2024, vol. 712, issue 1, 154-168

Abstract: Kais Saied’s July 2021 power grab in Tunisia is a clear case of democratic backsliding, and the nation’s judiciary, political parties, and civil society organizations have been unable to slow the democratic erosion that is occurring under the Saied regime. I describe the political resistance to backsliding and why it has failed to date, analyzing the roles of specific institutions and individual actors in that resistance. I argue that two key dynamics explain why efforts to mobilize against Saied’s power grab have failed to slow democratic erosion in Tunisia: top-down regime control of key government institutions and a deep popular frustration with the country’s political class, which limited bottom-up mobilization against Saied’s power grab.

Keywords: democratic backsliding; executive power grab; Tunisia; populism; regime change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:712:y:2024:i:1:p:154-168

DOI: 10.1177/00027162241310157

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