Human Rights, Civil Society and Democratization in the Middle East

Résumé du document

In what is mostly a descriptive study, Owen presents the Middle Eastern states in different categories: the states which have a one-party system, the ones which have a restricted and controlled multi-party rule, the Gulf States mainly under family rule and non-Arab states. In all these countries, except Israel, democracy is only partial, formal or absent. Owen concludes by saying that because of the variety of electoral experiences, it is difficult to generalize the practice of democracy in the Middle East. He says no satisfactory answer can be brought to the question whether Islam is inimical to democracy.

Extraits

[...] Democracy, a product of western intellectuals, might well be inadapted to the Middle East, which fails to cumulate enough of its prerequisites. Nonetheless for Eva Bellin these explanations are not satisfying. According to her the question should be middle eastern and north African states failed to initiate democratic transition at She compares the establishment of democracy to a revolution, whose success depends of the strength of the state and the way it controls coercion means. But this way of thinking seems reversed and too easy. [...]

[...] Sudan knew short periods of parliamentary democracy followed by military governments with single party. Syria and Iraq also knew the one party rule after military coups. In their case the Ba'th party became clearly a means for Al'Assad and Hussein to get more power and control the society. Tunisia and Algeria went from a single party system to a more competitive one. The Gulf countries are mainly ruled by by royal families, which are using democratic elements when it backs up their position. [...]

[...] Owen concludes by saying that because of the variety of electoral experiences, it is difficult to generalize about the practice of democracy in the Middle East. He says no satisfactory answer can be brought to the question whether Islam is inimical to democracy. I found this text quite uninteresting, for it brings nothing new or brilliant to the debate. Owen has a descriptive approach and the minor answers he gives concerning the difficulty of democracy's establishment in the region are mainly conjonctural. The deep structural causes, the most important ones, are not tackled. Eva Bellin's approach is much more interesting. [...]