On february 1, 2017, german police arrested a tunisian asylum seeker suspected of recruiting for the islamic state of iraq and the levant isil and planning an attack in berlin. After three years of negotiations, lawmakers ratified a new constitution in january 2014. Alongside case studies of indonesia, senegal, and india, contributors analyze similarities and differences among democratizing countries with large muslim populations. Tunisia was ruled by a one party government and authoritarian leaders until the revolution. United states support for tunisias democratic transition.
Five years after the revolution, more and more tunisians. Helping the countrys democratic and socioeconomic transition to succeed would ensure tunisias stability and transform it into a role model that citizens and elites across the region might seek to emulate in their states. The relatively successful transition is becoming not only a model, but it has debunked the myth of the impossibility of the arab world building democratic orders. Tunisia in transition project on middle east democracy. Five years after the arab uprisings, tunisia remains the regions best and likely only hope to complete a transition from authoritarian rule to a more inclusive form of government. This case study seeks to highlight the historic process of. With all of this said, the prospects for tunisian democracy are much more promising than those for egypt, and they always have been. The achilles heel of tunisias democratic transition. The aim of this article is to map out the key opportunities and challenges for political participation postarab spring, and the way forward for formal political participation in the region as it negotiates democratic transition. The democratic transition in post revolution tunisia. Tunisians subsequently elected a national constituent assembly nca tasked with drafting the countrys new constitution. The underlying reason for the change is the adoption of a new constitution in january 2014, which enshrines the equal rights of men and women and the rule of law.
Democratic transition, political risk, economic instability, and tourist inflows. The role of civil society in the tunisian democratic. Democratic transition is as much about trust and relationshipbuilding as it is about the details of specific constitutional documents although electoral legitimacy is important there are other forms of legitimacy that compete. Strategy for undp support to the democratic transition in. Tunisias democratic transition of the 90 countries that have attempted to transition to democracy over the past 50 years, 46 percent made the switch after a few years, 39 percent soon moved back to autocracy and a mere 15 percent gradually succeeded to reach democracy.
Spring2014volume14,issue1 pews news political economy of the worldsystem american sociological association insidethisissue. If we examine the classification of pinkey 1994 as shown in table 1, we can say that tunisia after 1970s conforms to personal authoritarianism. Why tunisias transition to democracy is succeeding while. Arab spring, only tunisia remains on the path to democracy. Tunisias democratic transition is a dream deferred the. Democratic transition in the muslim worldconvenes leading scholars to consider the implications of democratic success in tunisia and failure in egypt in comparative perspective. Democratic transition in tunisia1 introduction tunisia faced significant social and political challenges following the revolution of 2011. The early vote was precipitated by the july 25 death of beji caid essebsi, who at age 92 was approaching the end of his fiveyear term as tunisias first president to be chosen in a free and fair popular vote. The narrative of the tunisian transition from authoritarian rule to democracy has been depicted in much scholarly work as an unequivocal success story see e. Through arduous negotiations presided over by the civil society quartet, the parties finally agreed on a roadmap leading to the adoption of a consensual constitution and the designation of a neutral caretaker cabinet in january. Pomeps briefing 27 tunisia s volatile transition to democracy brings together 20 essential articles published by the project on middle east political science and the monkey cage that illuminate this small but important states internal politics and regional impact. Understanding tunisias model of democratic transition february 21, 2017. Disengagement from public affairs is increasing as living conditions are worsening and political representatives fail to offer viable solutions. What are the main challenges still facing the country today.
Tunisias fragile democratic transition the washington. Far from something to be decried as the end of consensus, or a reason for pessimism, it should be recognized as growing pains for a new democratic policy. How tunisias military has changed during its transition to democracy. Tunisia is showing the arab world how to nurture democracy soumaya ghannoushi despite the turmoil surrounding tunisia, its cohesive society. Transparent and wellorganized elections in fall 2014 marked the culmination of the constitutional phase in tunisias transition. Since 2011, democratic institutions were created, ambitious laws were enacted, a few figures of the former regimes were trialed and condemned, and the political and civic landscapes have transformed. There is a double may 2018 tunisia in transition a comparative view from thomas carothers thomas carothers, senior vice president for studies at the carnegie endowment for international peace in washington, d. The good student of the arab spring is facing serious issues that are severely hampering its democratization process. Tunisia has not completed a democratic transitionfar from it. Tunisias transition to democracy often has been troubled. Pinkey 1994 discusses types of authoritarian regimes and the opportunities for democratic transition. National social dialogue for peaceful and democratic. I find that the most likely form of democratic collapse in. How tunisias military has changed during its transition.
Political transition in tunisia congressional research service 3 and the constitutional democratic rally rcd party as his power base, and harshly repressed political participation, freedom of expression, and religious activism. In january 2011, after weeks of widespread popular protests, president zine elabidine ben ali abruptly fled tunisia, and an interim government assumed power, dissolved parliament, and promised the tunisian public a transition to democratic rule. To support the democratic transition in egypt and tunisia, the mena oecd governance program organised a preparatory meeting for the creation of a task force on legal and constitutional reform. The strengthening of social dialogue helped facilitate the transition to a more democratic, representative and inclusive form of governance.
For any regular visitor to tunis, the change of atmosphere in the capital in the first months of 2014 compared even to autumn 20, and certainly to 2012 is striking. It is easy to predict that the process will continue to be difficult, that mutual suspicion among parties and other political forces will remain high. Socioeconomic conditions, especially in the interior regions, were quite difficult. Conflict and compromise in a democratic transition. Tunisia erupted into nationwide mass demonstrations for democratic change. Tunisia parliament is 42% religious right and the rest secular and ideological. This paper examines the unfolding of tunisias democratic transition with special reference to the 2019 presidential and to a lesser extent, parliamentary election. Will there be a consensus around the new constitution.
Tunisian spring, while promising, will be incomplete without economic reforms march, 2015. Tunisia has emerged as the one success story of the 2011 arab spring uprisings. As old authoritarian practices persist, figures of ben alis era have resurfaced and are quickly gaining. It succeeded at one of a transitions critical tasks. Requisites and prerequisites oft cited in scholarly literature on democratic transition weigh in tunisias favor. English other on tunisia about climate change and environment, health, women and more. Since 2011, democratic institutions were created, ambitious laws were enacted, a few figures of the former regimes were trialed and condemned, and. Conditions for successful consolida tion and future prospects abstract. Consensus politics created what can be termed an authentic tunisian the democratic transition in postrevolution tunisia. In this symposium devoted to the democratic transition in tunisia, we will provide an opportunity to reflect once again on the process and dynamics entailed in learning about citizenship in a context of transition. Tunisia is a relative island of stability in a chaotic region, and the outcome of its democratic transitionas well as the role played by the united states throughoutwill have a. While tunisias economic challenges were apparent prior to the revolution, conditions since then have worsened. It begins with an overview of the crowded presidential field narrowed in the second round to a contest. The wave of arab uprisings began there in 2010, and the democratic government that tunisias revolution ushered in has survived.
Interest in democratization is due in part to the association between democracy and many important positive outcomes, including respect for human rights, economic prosperity, and security. In tunisia, politics is increasingly politics as usual, and thats a good thing. Setting the rules for the tunisian democratic transition. The evolutionary processes of the socalled arab spring and its associated political transformations have been and still remain highly unpredictable and almost impossible to systematically account for.
The case of tunisia chaker aloui, hela ben hamida, and besma hkiri tourism economics 0 10. Democratization, the process through which a political regime becomes democratic. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Oped by commerce secretary penny pritzker and madeleine albright. Socioeconomic challenges to tunisias democratic transition. Chairwoman and members of the committee, for giving me the opportunity to testify today on tunisias transition since its election late last year in particular focusing on the jihadi threat to it and the tunisian and american governments policies in dealing with the problem.
The religious right alnahda or the renaissance party had the prime ministership but the speaker of parliament is a leftist and the president is a secular liberal. A seminar followed, with the participation of the tunisian high commission for political refo. Since then, tunisia has taken key steps toward democracy. Still, tunisia is not a democracy yet, rather a hybrid system allying democratic features with persistent authoritarian practices. Unlimited viewing of the articlechapter pdf and any associated supplements and figures.
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