To be able to study authoritarianism, one must apply different lenses to view the whole picture. Focusing on the economical and political factors of a regime is essential in fully understanding it. However, only evaluating those two aspects would lead political scientists only grasping the general idea of what upholds and brings about a regime. To be able to define authoritarian regimes, one must also consider the historical and possibly religious factors as they are key in learning the necessary details that create regimes in MENA.
An example would be Tunisia. Without understanding the historical factors which lead Tunisia to fall back into an authoritarian regime, one could summarize it was due to bad economy and pressure applied by democratic foreign states. However, considering the historical aspects, one can now summarize that the country is backtracking due to the religious schism created in parliament which drives many of the legislators actions in the nation. A conclusion which could not be thought of if the countries religious history was not considered. This does not only apply to recent history either. It can be viewed dating from before the Arab Spring of 2011 how Tunisia would handle a democratic change to their system of government. Viewing some of Tunisia’s neighbors, examples being Syria and Libya, it can be assessed how well these countries would take democracy through their handling of the civil protesting and unrest that plagued these 3 regimes. Tunisia differed heavily from its two neighbors when it dealt with the protesting peacefully and when President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali stepped down from leadership. The difference comes when viewing Syria and Libya who dealt with the protesters as if they were hostiles and decided the best course of action would be to begin killing them to display governmental strength and control. A response which displays that they were not accepting of democracy and were heavily reluctant to change.
Another key factor, alongside history, is with case studies such as Lisa Wedeen’s book on Syrian protest. Understanding the rest of the region before circling in on a specific country is also necessary for a complete understanding. As well as knowing the historical context of the region and of what occurred to Syria’s neighbors such as Algeria or Yemen whose protests were violently stamped out, it is understandable as to why Syrians chose to use humor and cartoons to protest. This would allow for the people some resistance and momentum before they decide to announce a full scale protest of the government.
Case studies teach much more specific aspects of the region. In Wedeen’s study, its to show how people adapt to oppression based on what previous groups attempted in the region. A broad study or understanding of the region provides the context which in needed to understand the case study itself. Not only that, it is also crucial in gaining an idea of why these regimes are created and why many of them continue to exist.
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