Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/62315 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
GIGA Working Papers No. 203
Publisher: 
German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg
Abstract: 
This article deals with the Arab Spring as a process of deep political change in the Arab world, previously the only major world area where authoritarianism persisted unchallenged for decades. While in various countries of the Arab world mass protests in 2011 forced rulers to resign, other authoritarian regimes have - despite political and economic pressure - so far been able to remain in power, or have even been only insignificantly affected. This paper applies central social science approaches in order to analyze recent developments in the region - a major task of theoretically oriented social sciences in the coming years. In addition to providing an overview of the existing literature on the Arab Spring, the article examines the empirical results of political diversification in the Arab world. A two-by-two matrix of political rule that differentiates according to the type of rule and the degree of stability is presented and discussed. Although the analysis draws heavily on rent theory, it also applies findings from transition theory and revolution theory to illuminate the current political dynamics in the Middle East.
Subjects: 
Arab Spring
Middle East
rent theory
revolution theory , transition theory
democratization
authoritarianism
political and economic liberalization
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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