Article contents
Authoritarianism, Civil Society and Democracy in the Middle East: Mass Media in the Persian Gulf
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2016
Extract
The published literature on the topic of “Authoritarianism, Civil Society, and Democracy in the Middle East” is extensive and unwieldy. Partly due to space constraints, we propose to review the topic under six framing questions and then provide a selected and representative bibliography at the end.
The ideas of political reform and democracy are often the mainstay of debates within Middle Eastern polities. In general, there is ample awareness of democracy deficit and poor governance in the region. Democracy refers most basically to the ability of citizens to hold their governments accountable, and to change their political leaders at regular intervals. Instead, accountability to the public is generally weak in the region, and rulers are more likely to change as a result of actuarial realities than a withdrawal of public confidence.
- Type
- Essays
- Information
- Review of Middle East Studies , Volume 40 , Issue 2: Celebrating 40 Years! , December 2006 , pp. 201 - 212
- Copyright
- Copyright © Middle East Studies Association of North America 2006
References
Selected Bibliography
- 1
- Cited by