Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Department of Social Sciences - Berlin Graduate School of Social Science

Mahmoud Farag

Name
Mahmoud Farag
Cohort

BGSS Generation 2017

 

Title

Power-Sharing and Democratization in the Arab World

 

Abstract

Power-Sharing significantly contributes to democratic stability. Lebanon is a classic power-sharing case and the only Arab country with democratic history. After the Arab Spring, Tunisia broke what has long been known as the Arab exceptionalism and became a democracy. Can power-sharing account for the success of both cases? But can power-sharing also account for other competing facts: the non-democratic consolidation of Lebanon since 1990, the failure of Egypt’s democratic transition and the authoritarian survival of several Arab countries despite their various power-sharing mechanisms both before and after the Arab Spring? The doctoral project will examine this research question: To what extent have power-sharing mechanisms contributed to democratization in the Arab world between 2005-2016? This question aims not only to expand the power-sharing literature to the Arab world, by developing a power-sharing index, but also to contribute to the literature on authoritarian power-sharing. This will be done mainly by employing statistical analysis to examine the effects of power-sharing on 17 Arab countries over a twelve-year period. The findings of the project will contribute to current debates on the virtues of power-sharing and its effects on democratization and can help guide policy programs on democracy promotion and conflict management.