Old and New Actors in Middle East and North African Politics

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel aims to contribute to a better understanding of strategies and actions of political actors in MENA countries before and after 2010-2011 Arab uprisings. Even under authoritarianism and limited political participation, these countries hosted a myriad of individual and institutional political actors. After the Arab uprisings of 2010-11, political space opened and participation widened in some countries, including Tunisia, where a fragile democratization continues, and Morocco, where the authoritarian regime survived but the space for party competition and social movements expanded. In Turkey, as well, political rights and freedoms were extended since 1990s, which bestowed the country with an unusually liberal political environment until democratic decay started in mid-2010s. This panel focuses on how political and economic actors navigated in these fragile settings.

Morocco and Tunisia are two among the countries of the MENA region where labor unions are traditionally strong. But we know little about how labor unions channel their strength to political opposition under authoritarian regimes. Anderson delves into this question. Using an original dataset, she shows that the institutional environment not material incentives predict whether unions decide to dissent. Hammami also focuses on the authoritarian period in Tunisia, but on a different economic actor: Large-scale entrepreneurs and business owners. Through a social network analysis based on interviews and extensive research, he shows that the crony capitalistic structure instituted by the Ben Ali regime relied less on excessive intervention by state agencies than on spontaneous actions by the business owners.

When political participation is expanded, either abruptly as in Tunisia after the 2010-11 uprisings or gradually in Turkey since 1990s, voters become a prominent political actor, and political elites adjust their strategies accordingly. The last two papers in this panel explore preferences of voters through experimental methods. Benstead and Lust investigate when women are popular among voters and find out that youth is an advantage, but stereotypes on the competencies of women are still salient, limiting their popularity among some voters. Guiler asks why mainstream Muslims vote for Islamists. Through a series of survey experiments and interviews in Turkey and Tunisia, she finds out that the perception of victimhood is an important determinant of support for Islamists.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 57: Middle East and North Africa Politics

Individual Presentations

• Going Political?: Authoritarian Institutions, Labor and Political Mobilization - Ashley Anderson

• The Political Economy of Privileged Networks in Tunisia - Mohamed-Dhia Hammami

• Traits, Competences or Policy Signals? Explaining Women's Electability - Lindsay J. Benstead, Portland State University; Ellen M. Lust, University of Gothenburg

• Benefiting from Victimhood: Why Mainstream Muslims Elect Islamists - Kimberly Guiler, Southwestern University

Chair

• Sharan Grewal College of William & Mary

Discussants

• Aytuğ Şaşmaz Harvard University

• Yuree Noh Harvard University