Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Multi-party elections in the Arab world: Institutional engineering and oppositional strategies

  • Articles
  • Published:
Studies in Comparative International Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recent moves toward multi-party competition for elected legislatures in numerous Arab countries constitute a significant departure from earlier practices there, and create the basis for democratic activists to gradually chip away at persistent authoritarian rule. This article explores the institutional mechanisms by which incumbent authoritarian executives seek to engineer these elections. It documents examples of rulers changing electoral systems to ensure compliant legislatures, and demonstrates the prevalent use of winner-takes-all electoral systems, which generally work to the regimes’ advantage. I then review various strategies of opposition forces—boycotts, non-competition agreements, election monitoring, and struggles over election rules—and the dilemmas that these entail. Surmounting differences in terms of ideologies, as well as short-term political goals and prospects, is a central challenge.

The future should see greater electoral participation among opposition activists, along with cleaner elections. As vote coercion and ballot box stuffing is restricted by opposition pressures, electoral institutions will take on greater importance, and struggles for proportional representation are likely to increase.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdelhaq, Mohamed and Jean-Bernard Heumann. 2000. “Opposition et elections en Tunisie.”Monde arabe Maghreb Machrek 168 (April–June): 29–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abu Jaber, Kamel S. and Schirin H. Fathi. 1990. “The 1989 Jordanian Parliamentary Elections.”Orient 31: 67–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • AbuKhalil, As'ad. 1997. “Change and Democratisation in the Arab World: The Role of Political Parties.”Third World Quarterly 18(1): 149–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • AbuKhalil, As'ad. 2001. “Lebanon One Year after the Israeli Withdrawal.”MERIP Press Information Note 58 (May 29).

  • Alexander, Christopher. 1997. “Authoritarianism and Civil Society in Tunisia.”Middle East Report 20(5) (October–December): 34–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amy, Douglas. 1993.Real Choices, New Voices: The Case for Proportional Representation in America. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Lisa. 1995. “Democracy in the Arab World: A Critique of the Political Culture Approach.” Pp. 77–92 inPolitical Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, Vol. 1: Theoretical Perspectives, eds. R. Brynen, B. Korany, and P. Noble. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Lisa. 1997. “Prospects for Liberalism in North Africa: Identities and Interests in Preindustrial Welfare States.” Pp. 127–140 inIslam, Democracy and the State in North Africa, ed. John P. Entelis. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Assidon, Sion. 1998. “How the Monarchy Engineered the 1997 Moroccan Elections.” Paper presented at the Brown Elections Conference.

  • Auda, Gehad. 1991. “Egypt's Uneasy Party Politics.”Journal of Democracy 2(2).

  • Baaklini, Abdo, Guilain Denoeux, and Robert Springborg. 1999.Legislative Politics in the Arab World: The Resurgence of Democratic Institutions. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beblawi, Hazem. 1987. “The Rentier State in the Arab World.”Arab Studies Quarterly 9(4): 383–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bendarou, Omar. 1996. “Power and Opposition in Morocco.”Journal of Democracy 7(3):108–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bill, James and Robert Springborg. 1994.Politics in the Middle East. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bras, Jean-Philippe. 2000. “Elections et representation au Maghreb.”Monde arabe Maghreb Machrak 168 (April–June): 3–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bratton, Michael and Nicholas Van de Walle. 1997.Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brownlee, Jason. 2001. “The Double Edge of Electoral Authoritarianism: A Comparison of Egypt and Iran.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, September.

  • Brumberg, Daniel. 1995. “Survivial Strategies.” Pp. 229–260 inPolitical Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, Vol. 1, Theoretical Perspectives, eds. R. Brynen, B. Korany, and P. Noble. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brynen, Rex, Bahgat Korany, and Paul Noble, eds. 1995, 1998.Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World: Vol. 1: Theoretical Perspectives, andVol. 2: Comparative Experiences. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brynen, Rex. 1998. “The Politics of Monarchical Liberalism.” Pp. 71–100 InPolitical Liberalization and Democratization, Vol. 2, Comparative Experience, eds. R. Brynen et al. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.Sawasiah.

  • Carapico, Sheila. 1993. “Elections and Mass Politics in Yemen.”Middle East Report 185 (November–December): 2–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —.Civil Society in Yemen: The Political Economy of Activism in Modern Arabia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catusse, Myriam. 2001. “Business, Scandals and Glass Ballot Boxes in Casablanca: The Ambiguities of the ‘Local Democracy’ in the Era of ‘Good Governance’”. Paper presented at the Second Mediterranean Social and Political Research meeting, Mediterranean Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, March 21–25.

  • Center for Human Rights Legal Aid. 1996. “Egyptian Politics: The Fiction of a Multiparty System.” Cairo.

  • Chazan, Naomi. 1992. “Africa's Democratic Challenge.”World Policy Journal 9(2): 279–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, Mark. 1982.The Transformation of Egypt. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, W. 1997.Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Detalle, Renaud. 1993. “The Yemeni Elections Up Close.”Middle East Report 18(5) (November–December): 8–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, Larry. 1994. “Toward Democratic Consolidation.”Journal of Democracy 5(3).

  • —. 1996. “Is the Third Wave Over?”Journal of Democracy 7: 20–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillman, Bradford. 2000. “Parliamentary Elections and the Prospects for Political Pluralism in North Africa.”Government and Opposition 35, 2 (Spring): 211–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. 1995. “Democracy in Danger: The Elections Nobody Won.” Cairo (in Arabic).

  • Engstrom, Richard L. 1992. “Modified Multi-Seat Election Systems as Remedies for Minority Vote Dilution.”Stetson Law Review XXI(3): 743–770.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley, Michael and Bob Edwards. 1996. “The Paradox of Civil Society.”Journal of Democracy 7(3): 38–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gambill, Gary C. and Elie Abou Aoun. 2000. “Special Report: How Syria Orchestrates Lebanon's Elections.”Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 2(7) www.meib.org.articles/0008_11.htm

  • Gasiorowski, Mark. 1992. “The Failure of Reform in Tunisia.”Journal of Democracy 3(4): 85–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gawhary, Krista Masonis El. 2000. “Egyptian Advocacy NGOs: Catalysts for Social and Political Change?”Middle East Report 214: 38–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geisser, Vincent. 2000. “Tunisie: Des elections pour quoi faire? Enjeux et ‘sens’ du fait electoral de Bourguiba a Ben Ali.”Monde arabe Maghreb Machrek 168 (April–June): 14–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghanem, As'ad. 1996. “Founding Elections in a Transitional Period: The First Palestinian General Elections.”Middle East Journal 50(4).

  • Glosemeyer, Iris. 1998. “Parliamentary Elections in Yemen 1997.” Pp. 35–43 inElections in the Middle East and North Africa, eds. S. Behrendt and C. Hanelt. Munich/Getersloh: Bertelsmann Foundations.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1993. “The first Yemeni Parliamentary Elections in 1993: Practicing Democracy.”Orient 34(3): 439–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Yemen: Elections Supreme Committee, Information Committee. 1992.The Republic of Yemen Election Law (translated September 21).

  • Grofman, Bernard and Arend Lijphart, eds. 1986.Electoral Laws and their Political Consequences. New York: Agathon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haggard, Stephan and Robert Kaufman. 1995.The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammami, Rema. 2000. “Palestinian NGOs since Oslo: From NGO Politics to Social Movements?”Middle East Report 214: 16–19, 27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harik, Iliya. 1999. “The Election Law and the Art of Dealing in Miracles.”al-Hayat, May 9 (in Arabic).

  • —. 1994. “Pluralism in the Arab World.”Journal of Democracy 5(3): 43–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harik, Judith Palmer. 1998. “Democracy (Again) Derailed: Lebanon's Ta'if Paradox.” Pp. 127–156 inPolitical Liberalization, Vol. 2, eds. R. Brynen et al.

  • Hendriks, Bertus. 1985. “Egypt's Elections, Mubarak's Bind.”MERIP Reports 129 (January): 11–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinnebusch, Raymond. 1985.Egyptian Politics Under Sadat. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hourani, Hani, 1998. “Al-ihzab al-siyasiya wal-dimuqratiya fil-Urdun 1989–1998 (Political Parties and Democracy in Jordan 1989–1998).” Paper presented at the Brown Elections Conference.

  • Human Rights Watch. 1997. “Jordan: Camping Down on Critics—Human Rights Violations in Advance of the Parliamentary Elections.”Human Rights Watch 9(12).

  • Huntington, Samuel. 1991/1992. “How Countries Democratize.”Political Science Quarterly 106: 579–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ibrahim, Saad Eddin. 1995. “Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World: An Overview.” Pp. 29–60 inPolitical Liberalization, Vol. 1, ed. R. Brynen et al.

  • Karam, Mohamed. 1998. “Al-Intikhabat fil-Maghreb (Elections in Morocco).” Paper presented at the Brown Elections Conference (also available in English).

  • Karl, Terri Lynn. 1990. “Dilemmas of Democratization in Latin America.”Comparative Politics 23(1).

  • Khalid, Kamal. 1989.The Struggle Against Tailoring Laws: Three Years Defending the Constitution. Cairo: Dar al-I'tisam (in Arabic).

    Google Scholar 

  • Khazen, Farid El. 1994. “Lebanon's First Postwar Parliamentary Elections, 1993.”Middle East Policy 3(1): 120–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khouri, Riad Al. 1998. “The 1997 Parliamentary Elections in Jordan.” Pp. 27–33 inElections in the Middle East and North Africa, eds. S. Behrendt and C. Hanelt. Munich: Gutersloh (Bertelsmann Foundation).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kienle, Eberhard. 1998. “More than a Response to Islamism: The Political Deliberalization of Egypt in the 1990s.”Middle East Journal 52(2).

  • Kinzo, Maria D'Alva. 1988.Legal Opposition Politics Under Authoritarian Rule in Brazil. New York: St. Martin's Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, Gudrun. 1992. “Liberalization and Democracy in the Arab World.”Middle East Report 174 (January/February).

  • —. 1997. “Islamist Notions of Democracy.” Pp. 71–82 inPolitical Islam, eds. J. Beinin and J. Stork. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubba, Laith. 2000. “Arabs and Democracy: The Awakening of Civil Society.”Journal of Democracy 11(3): 84–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langohr, Vickie. 2000. “Cracks in Egypt's Electoral Engineering: The 2000 Vote.”MERIP Press Information Note 39, November 7.

  • Langohr, Vickie. 2001. “Democracy in Egypt? A Discussion of the Recent Elections.” Talk given at the University of Pennsylvania Middle East Center, January 18.

  • Lardeyret, Guy. 1991. “Debate: Proportional Representation.”Journal of Democracy 2(3): 30–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS). 1996. “The Parliament of Yes-Men? Lebanon's Supreme Soviet.”The Lebanon Report 3 (Fall) www.lcps-lebanon.org/pub/tlr/96/fall96/yes_men.html

  • Lijphart, Arend and Carlos H. Waisman, eds. 1996.Institutional Design in New Democracies: Eastern Europe and Latin America. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linz, Juan J. and Alfred Stepan. 1996.Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linz, Juan. 1978. “Non-Competitive Elections in Europe.” Pp. 36–65 inElections Without Choice, eds. Guy Hermet, Rishard Rose, and Alain Rouquie. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lust-Okar, Ellen and Amaney Ahmad Jamal. 2002. “Rulers and Rules: Reassessing Electoral Laws and Political Liberalization in the Middle East.”Comparative Political Studies (forthcoming).

  • Maghraoui, Abdelslam. 2001. “Political Authority in Crisis: Mohammed VI's Morocco.”Middle East Report 218 (Spring): 12–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makram-Ebeid, Mona. 1996. “Egypt's 1995 Elections: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?”Middle East Policy IV(3): 120–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mainwaring, Scott. 1993. “Presidentialism, Multipartism, and Democracy: The Difficult Combination.”Comparative Political Studies 26(2): 198–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzetti, Luigi. 1993.Institutions, Parties and Coalitions in Argentine Politics. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez, Sara Kate. 2000. “Evolution of an Electoral System: The Case of Mexico.” Paper presented at the annual conference of the APSA, Washington, DC, August 31–September 3.

  • Mednicoff, David. 1994. “Morocco.” Pp. 383–397 inPolitical Parties in the Middle East and North Africa, ed. Frank Tachau. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Middlebrook, Kevin. 1985. “Political Liberalization in an Authoritarian Regime: The Case of Mexico.”Research Report Series 41, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California at San Diego.

  • Mossadeq, Rkia El. 1987. “Political Parties and Power-Sharing.” Pp. 59–83 inThe Political Economy of Morocco, ed. I. W. Zartman. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mozaffar, Shaheen and Richard Vengroff. 1999. “Institutional Choice as a Nested Game in Emerging Democracies: Electoral System Reform in Senegal.” Paper presented at the 95th Annual Meeting of the APSA, September 2–5.

  • Munson, Henry, Jr. 1998. “International Election Monitoring: A Critque Based on One Monitor's Experience in Morocco.”Middle East Report 209 (Winter): 37–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mustafa, Hala. 1997. “Mu'ashrat wa nata'ij intikhabat 1995” (Indicators and Results of the 1995 Elections). Pp. 37–51 inAl-Intikhabat al-Barlamaniya fi Misr 1995 (The 1995 Parliamentary Elections in Egypt), ed. H. Mustafa. Cairo Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naaman, Issam. 1998. “Dur Nizam al-intikhabi al-ikthari fi tadwim al-hakam al-ta'ifi” (The Role of the Plurality Election System in the Perpetuation of Communal Rule). Paper presented at the Brown elections conference (also available in English).

  • Najjar, Fauzi. 1989. “Elections and Democracy in Egypt.”American-Arab Affairs (Summer).

  • National Democratic Institute and the Carter Center. 1997.The January 20, 1996, Palestinian Elections. Washington, DC.

  • Nelson, Harold D., ed. 1985.Morocco: A Country Study. Washington, DC: American University Foreign Area Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, Augustus Richard. 1994/1996.Civil Society in the Middle East, Vols. I and II. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Donnell, Guillermo and Philippe C. Schmitter. 1986.Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penner, Michelle. 1999. “Parties, Parliament, and Political Dissent in Tunisia.”Journal of North African Studies 4(4): 89–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peretz, Don. 1994.The Middle East Today. Westport, CT: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piro, Timothy. 1992. “Parliament, Politics, and Pluralism in Jordan.”Middle East Insight (July–October): 39–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitner, Julia. 2000. “NGO's Dilemmas.”Middle East Report 214 (Spring): 34–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Post, Erika. 1987. “Egypt's Elections.”Middle East Report 147 (July–August): 17–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pouusney, Marsha Pripstein. 1998. “Behind the Ballot Box: Electoral Engineering in the Arab World.”Middle East Report 209 (Winter): 12–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Przeworski, Adam. 1991.Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeve, Andrew and Alan Ware. 1991.Electoral Systems: A Comparative and Theoretical Approach. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reidel, Tim. H. 1994. “The 1993 Parliamentary Elections in Jordan.”Orient 35.

  • Reynolds, Andrew. 1999. “Patterns of Democratization and Institutional Design in Southern and West Africa.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Atlanta, September 3.

  • Reynolds, Andrew and Ben Reilly. 1997.The International IDEA Handbook of Electoral System Design. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, Andrew and Jorgan Elkit. 1997. “Jordan: Electoral System Design in the Arab World.” Pp. 53–54 inThe IDEA Handbook, eds. A. Reynolds and B. Reilly.

  • Sadowski, Yahya. 1997. “The New Orientalism and Democracy.” Pp. 33–50 inPolitical Islam, edited by J. Beinin and J. Stork. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salame, Ghassan. 1994. “Introduction: Where are the Democrats.” Pp. 1–22 inDemocracy Without Democrats: The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World, edited by Ghassan Salame. New York: I. B. Taurus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salem, Paul. 1997. “Skirting Democracy: Lebanon's 1996 Elections and Beyond.”Middle East Report 203 (Spring): 26–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saqqaf, Muhammad. 1998. “Al-Intikhabat al-Yemeniya: Sirab Dimuqrati” (The Yemenese Elections: A Democratic Phantom). Paper presented at the Brown Elections Conference (also available in English).

  • Sayyid, Mustapha Kamel El. 1995. “The Concept of Civil Society in the Arab World.” Pp. 131–148 inPolitical Liberalization, eds. Brynen et al.

  • Share, Donald and Scott Mainwaring. 1986. “‘Transitions Through Transaction’: Democratization in Brazil and Spain.” Pp. 175–215 inPolitical Liberalization in Brazil, ed. W. Selcher. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shin, Doh Chull. 1994. “On the Third Wave of Democratization: A Synthesis and Evaluation of Recent Theory and Research.”World Politics 47(1): 135–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skidmore, Thomas. 1988.The Politics of Military Rule in Brazil 1964–85. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talbi, Mohamed. 2000. “Arabs and Democracy: A Record of Failure.”Journal of Democracy 11(3): 58–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tessler, Mark A., John P. Entelis, and Gregory W. White. 1995. “Republic of Tunisia.” Pp. 423–445 inThe Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa, eds. D. Long and B. Reich, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • — 1995. “Kingdom of Morocco.” Pp. 369–386 inThe Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa, eds. D. Long and B. Reich. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thelen, Kathleen and Sven Steinmo. 1992. “Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics.” Pp. 1–32 inStructuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis, eds. S. Steinmo, K. Thelen, and F. Longstreth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vengroff, Richard and Lucy Cheevey. 1997. “Senegal: The Evolution of a Quasi Democracy.” Pp. 204–22 inPolitical Reform in Francophone Africa, eds. J Clark and D. Gardinier. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vengroff, Richard and Michael Magala. 2000. The Transformation of Senegal's Electorate: Institutional Reform, Political Culture, and Democratic Transition.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, August 30–September 3.

  • Wengroff, Richard and Shaheen Mozaffar. 2001. “A Systematic Approach to the Study of Electoral Rules in Emerging Democracies: The Case of Senegal.”Electoral Studies [forthcoming].

  • Waterbury, John. 1994. “Democracy Without Democrats? The Potential for Political Liberalization in the Middle East.” Pp. 23–47 inDemocracy Without Democrats: The Renewal of Politics in the Muslim World, ed. G. Salame. New York: I. B. Taurus.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1983.The Egypt of Nasser and Sadat. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1997. “From Social Contracts to Extraction Contracts: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism and Democracy.” Pp. 141–176 inIslam, Democracy and the State in North Africa, ed. J. Entelis. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wederman, Ben 1993. “Democracy in Jordan.”Middle East Insight 10, 1 (November–December).

    Google Scholar 

  • White, Gregory. 1997. “The Advent of Electoral Democracy in Morocco? The Referendum of 1996.”Middle East Journal 51(3): 389–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 1995.Bureaucrats in Business. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, Zakariya. 1999. “Chasing Democracy in Tunisia.”http://www.iviews.com

Download references

Authors
  1. Marsha Pripstein Posusney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Marsha Pripstein Posusney is associate professor of Political Science at Bryant College and an adjunct associate professor of International Relations (Research) at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. Her first book,Labor and the State in Egypt: Workers, Unions, and Economic Restructuring (Co-lumbia University Press, 1997) was co-winner of the 1998 Albert Hourani prize, awarded annually by the Middle East Studies Association for outstanding original scholarly work on the Middle East. She is currently completing work on a co-edited volume,Privatization and Labor: Responses and Consequences in Global Perspective (Edward Elgar Publishing, Forthcoming).

Earlier versions of this article were presented at Middle East Studies seminars at Harvard and columbia Universities in April, 1998, and at a Brown University Political Science Dept. seminar in April, 1999. In addition to the feedback at these events, I would like to acknowledge helpful comments on earlier versions from Miguel Glatzer, Iliya Harik, John Kerr, Ann Lesch, Vickie Langohr, Rob Richie, Wendy Schiller, Jillian Schwedler, Joe Stork, Greg White, and especially Ellen Lust-Okar and four anonymous reviewers. I am also grateful for the research assistance of Myrna Atalla, Daria Viviano, Laurent Fauque, and Colleen Anderson.

The article draws on presentations and discussion at the conference on “Controlled Contestation and Opposition Strategies: Multi-Party Elections in the Arab World”, Brown University, October 2–3, 1998. Sponsored by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown in cooperation with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies as Harvard, it brought together ten democratic activists from seven different Arab countries. It is referenced here (to save space) as the “Brown elections conference.”

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Posusney, M.P. Multi-party elections in the Arab world: Institutional engineering and oppositional strategies. St Comp Int Dev 36, 34–62 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686332

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686332

Keywords

Search

Navigation