The Eclipse of Arab Authoritarianism and the Challenge of Popular Sovereignty

Hilal Khashan

Third World Quarterly, 2012, vol. 33, issue 5, 919-930

Abstract: This paper proposes that the tumultuous events associated with the Arab uprisings are unlikely to engender democracy in the foreseeable future. At best, they will probably produce unstable political orders on the basis of accommodation and ad hoc political alliances. The argument of this paper lends itself to analysis through the examination of Arabs' experience with (1) failed reforms, (2) regime defiance, (3) the gap between youth awakening and sociopolitical reality and (4) the uneasy encounter between nascent competence, confidence and political consensus. The author's assessment suggests that recent dramatic developments in the Arab region are only the beginning of a long process of political evolution that is unlikely to be concluded before the successful resolution of the issue of political identity and the transformation of Arab publics from subjects into citizens.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2012.687509

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