(Book Review)Democracy and Authoritarianism in the Arab World

reviewed by Serpil Acikalin

Author: Nicola Pratt
Publisher: Lynne Reienner Publishers
Published in: 2007

Review:
In the Middle East, although many countries have electoral systems, as we see from low turnouts, the region's people feel politically alienated because of their lack of confidence in their leaders. The reason for this is that the people predict the inheritance of their leaders in the elections. In the region, particularly after the events of 9/11 and the Iraq invasion, leaders began to be concerned about their future position. Even though there has been a gradual opening since 1980s as a response to the spread of liberal understanding and other developments in the international field, the wave has not led to a change in leaders or clamping down on dissidents in the countries. The change of leaders' minds paved the way for reforms, but the red line of the amendments was not to danger the continuation of their leaderships.

When we look for the reasons for the continuation of authoritarian regimes and failure of democratization in the region some academicians, such as Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington, commented on the applications by linking the issue with the incompatibility of Islam and Arab/Muslim culture to Western-style democratic values and they say the religion and culture are underpinning factors for authoritarianism. In her book, Democracy and Authoritarianism In the Arab World, Nicola Pratt looks to answer the questions of why and how authoritarian regimes have survived for many years in the so-called radical/populist/socialist/single party regimes of Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt. By choosing these five countries and comprehensive concepts like democracy, authoritarianism, and the Arab World, she embarked upon a difficult business from the beginning. In her book, Pratt wants to demonstrate the capacities of civil society organizations in the Arab World by giving a historical and comparative analysis of the above mentioned countries. Arguing there are not only political reasons, Pratt says that there are also social relations rooted in class, gender, religious, and ethnic differences, economic reasons, institutional structures, and individual features for the authoritarian regimes.

The author aims to explain that despite the fact that we have witnessed the existence and spread of civil society institutions such as human right groups, women organizations, or any of other NGOs in the region, they do not necessarily contribute to undermining the authoritarian regimes but in fact may help to consolidate the regimes. In the first chapter of her book Pratt conceptualizes the state-civil society relations and continues in the other chapters to explain the interactions between the civil society and the states. After giving the conceptual framework, Pratt gives a background on the nation state building process and the effects of colonialism in her search for the underpinning factors of authoritarian regimes in a historical context. Five of the chosen countries have a legacy of colonial rule and their structures were created by their former colonial rulers. Here Pratt argues that the colonial period left the countries in a subordinate position in the capitalist system and this constituted a major factor for authoritarianism. In the post-independence period, the regimes co-opted with alliances to maintain their power. The state corporatism was improved with different groups, classes, and individuals in the societies. By providing subordination of corporatist groups, a state-controlled ISI (Import Substitute Industrialization) economy dominated the counties in the post-independence period, and these improvements led to rhetoric of unity rather than pluralism. In the process of corporatist policies, regimes co-opted with workers, peasants, and middle classes instead of the privileged class of ex-European rule. A tacit agreement between the regimes and beneficiaries of the regimes lay down the rights for political participation and the relationship improved between the sides. Pratt argues that not only these factors, but also cultural-historical reasons, also provide a terrain for the consolidation of authoritarian rulers. Pratt says that even the protests of workers and other groups were not to demand more participatory rights but better living standards and economic interests.

In the following chapters Pratt examines the normalization and booster factors of authoritarianism in the post-World War I era. In the populist-nationalist environment of the 1950s and 1960s, construction of new hierarchies in society and role of civil society contributed to the normalization of the hierarchies and was essential for the new structure of society. Previous applications of European rule also undermined respect of the legal system in the minds of the region's people. The social differences and creation of privileged segments of society destroyed the image of European rule and empowered the embracement of post-independence regimes' applications. New nationalist discourse and understanding to resist European rule formed the ideology of civil society in these years. The role of civil society was also crucial for the normalization of authoritarianism through its support for modernization projects. The consent of the regime beneficiaries reaffirmed the systems and in the same period of regime justification states used national modernization projects and different segments of the society -feminists, Islamists, communists, secularists- to embrace nationalist aspirations and anti colonial rhetoric. By providing civil society consensus and paternalistic ideas, regimes were consolidated. The anti-colonial struggle and idea of "us" and "them" also contributed to regimes' survival. Pratt says that the socio-economic demands of the workers organizations linked to the struggle against colonialism and blurred the political demands. For each sample country she defines anti-imperialist and populist policies of the post-independence period. Pratt argues that in the state-building process the countries had similar experiences.

In the following pages of the book Pratt defines the challenges of civil society in the late 1960s and onwards with deterioration of economic conditions together with the defeat of nationalistic ideas. Unsatisfied ISI policies and the intellectual transformation paved the way for reforms in these countries. Multiparty systems in the countries embarked upon through 1970s. together with the parties, professional syndicates, human right groups and resurgence of Islamist movements increased the contentious voices of dissent segments of the society. Pratt presents all these factors as the reasons of challenge against authoritarian powers. The 1967 defeat, distance from Arab socialism and Western alliances led to a departure between the regimes and civil society.

As a response to the changing economic and social conditions of the 1970s and onwards, regimes began to repress dissent activities. Pratt argues that 1980s' political liberalism didn't provide economic relaxation and limited the regimes' economic resources. The Islamists' participation in the political system and their ability to mobilize people through grassroots movements resulted in the repression of many actors in civil society. Different cultural demands and splits in national identities destroyed the corporatist structure of civil society. The regimes played different groups against each other to guarantee their survival and their indistinct position against the growing power of the Islamic activities.

When Pratt asks whether civil society institutions lead to democratization or not she argues that many civil society organizations provide services which are not of interest to their regimes' authoritarian or democratic structures. Differentiated structures and divisions in civil society organizations and their religion, ethnicity, gender, and ideological orientations led to splits; while some have preferred to ally with religious groups, others have been reluctant to do so.

In the last chapter of the book the author touches upon transnational actors, predominantly non-governmental civil society actors. She argues that although the links are not sufficient to change the regimes, they contribute to the improvement of civil society in the authoritarian regimes. Pratt begins this chapter by describing the historical links of the Arab World to the international environment. Islamist groups' informal links to other parts of the world and their pluralist transformation came true in the last decades, but Pratt says that the opening in the Islamist ideas does not necessarily contribute to the democratization process. As Pratt lists in the last chapter of her book, there are many transnational events that affect civil society organizations in the Arab countries. One of these events is solidarity with Palestinians, which particularly came to civil societies' agenda in the second intifada; another event is the antiglobalization and antiwar movement, which has empowered anti-neoliberal institutions and, particularly after the events of 9/11, the U.S.' interventions in other neighboring countries. As Pratt argues, the events mobilize the organizations to participate in common activities and bring them together. As such, different ideologies from different countries find a chance to affect each other and interact through transnational links. She says that the transnational character of the organizations emphasizes the concept of victimization of Muslims/Arabs in the hands of the U.S. and its allies.

Pratt's book gives a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of authoritarian regimes and the potential for democratization in the region. The book leads us to lateral thinking of the region's countries, but although she aims to make a comparative analysis in her study, the weakest point in the book is that sometimes her style may confuse readers, as they have to jump up from one country in one paragraph to another one in the following paragraph. And the theorist structure of the book leads to a superficial survey of the countries. Despite the weaknesses, the book is a reference for students of Middle Eastern Studies.


about book:
What explains the enduring rule of authoritarian regimes in the Arab world? Nicola Pratt offers an innovative approach to this recurring question, shedding light on the failure of democratization by examining both the broad dynamics of authoritarianism in the region and the particular role of civil society. Pratt appraises the part that civil society actors played in the normalization of authoritarianism in the Middle East, the challenges that new organized groups now pose to entrenched Arab regimes, and the varying ways in which those regimes are responding. She also explores the diversity of conceptions of democracy among nonstate actors. Arguing against the idea that Arab culture is inherently incompatible with democracy - the concept of Middle East "exceptionalism" - she assesses the realistic potential for democratization in the region.