Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Democratization – Tunisia'

In marking an historical change in large parts of the Arab region, the Arab uprisings have also triggered a process of soul searching in the scholarship of Arab politics. The events unfolding in the region since 2011 prove indeed that the two paradigms dividing the academic community, that of authoritarian resilience (also known as the post-democratization paradigm) and that of democratization, are alone insufficient in accounting for the political developments of the area. In this regard, extant contributions explaining the different paths undertook by Tunisia and Egypt between 2011 and 2013 enlighten the point in case. On the one hand, democratization studies pinpoint to the different choices taken by transitional actors but remain only partial in that don’t go further than the observed behavior. On the other hand, post-democratization studies focus on the structures and the mechanisms underpinning the previous authoritarian regimes but fall short in providing the causal link between them and the observed outcome. In line with the transitology approach, this research moves from the acknowledgment that the failure or the success of the transitions in Egypt and Tunisia is to be attributed to political parties’ choice about whether to cooperate or not with the other ones within the phase of installation. Yet, unlike any other kind of transitional actor, parties’ strategy profiles result from the interplay among: i) extant social divisions; ii) power resources and iii) ideological polarization. By breaking down the concept of agency in this way, the different structures of competition underneath the previous authoritarian rule in Tunisia and Egypt account for much of the variation across the two countries. First, they are responsible for the uneven distribution of seats’ share inside the transitional national assemblies encouraging stronger parties to defect from cooperation in order to institutionalize their power advantage. Second, they are responsible for the different degrees of ideological polarization which is deemed to reduce the common ground available for the constitutional bargaining. While offering new insights accounting for the political developments in Tunisia and Egypt following the ousting of the previous dictators, this work combines the two contending paradigms into a unified reading fulfilling their respective shortcomings. On the one hand, the concept of agency so formulated allows democratization studies to go deeper than ‘what ought to be’. On the other hand, it provides post-democratization studies a causal link, i.e. parties’ agency, connecting previous regimes’ structures with the outcome of transition.

The Jasmin Revolution in Tunisia began at the end of 2010. Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest against the corrupt police officials that had forced him to pay bribes in order to run his business. His protest became the symbol for the revolution that followed. A combination of political instabilities along with an economic downturn that lead to unemployment created dissatisfaction among the people in Tunisia. The Protest grew into a revolution that demanded action against the widespread unemployment, lack of democracy and human rights. A democratization process started after the revolution because of the protests. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how Tunisia developed a democratic system of governance, if the notion of human rights has changed since the democratization process started and to analyse the relationship between human rights and democracy within the case of Tunisia. Three democratization theories, are applied to this case on Tunisia in order to answer these questions. The theorists are Robert A. Dahl with a theory of constitutionalism and institutionalism, Chantal Mouffe with a theory of agonistic pluralism and Seyla Benhabib with a theory of deliberative democracy.  The three theorists have different opinions regarding democracy and democratization processes but they all agree that the modern notion of democracy is of liberal character and that inclusion and that equality is important for a democracy. This thesis shows that the democratization of Tunisia’s governance could arise because the process had a relatively liberal agenda, which is perceived through the theories as the modern concept of democracy. The three theories require inclusion and equality for a transition to be democratic. Tunisia has included the citizens in the work of establishing a better relationship between the state and citizens but also when drafting the new constitution after the revolution. The actions taken by Tunisia are compatible with the theories, and maybe an explanation to the democratization process. The relationship between democracy and human rights is important when discussing the democratization of Tunisia. The revolution demanded democracy and human rights, something that the state could not deny. In order to honour the revolution and its demands the government in Tunisia tried to incorporate human rights into the democratic work, linking the relationship between democracy and human rights. Therefore, it can be viewed as a liberal democratization process. This thesis proves that Tunisia is not a democracy, but the process after the revolution is still remarkable and one day I can only hope that the process will be complete.

This essay consists of a case study of Tunisian democratization process which came along the events of the Arab spring in 2010-11. The aim of the research is to understand why Tunisia took a distinctive path during the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa in 2010-11. The case study is within the theoretical framework of traditional democratization literature. These theories are modernization theory, historical sociology and the agency approach. Using the methodological approach of qualitative content analysis, I have analyzed academic articles and come to the conclusion that seven factors played a crucial role for democracy in Tunisia: (1) increased level of education, (2) increased level of information, (3) existing formal and informal organizations in the civil society, (4) transnational power structure, (5) the size of coercive apparatus, (6) compromises among political actors and (7) existing political community. I argue that both the structure of the civil society and the political foundation in Tunisia played a vital role for the distinctive path it took towards democracy.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare why Yemen’s democratization process failed while Tunisia’s succeed after the Arab spring. The main question of this paper is: Why did the democratization process in Yemen failed, but succeeded in Tunisia after the Arab Spring emergence in year 2011 based on Diamonds theory? The method that applied to this study is a comparative case study in form of “Most Similar System Design” known as “MSS-design”. After applied four of Larry Diamonds nine factors, the study finally reached the answer of the main question.     The results showed that the absence of historically solid national unity, internally fragmented civil society and the military intervention of Saudi-led coalition was the main factors that caused why Yemen’s democratization process failed. On the other side the strong civil society, diplomatic peaceful pressure and the historical separation of military from the Tunisian political system was the main factors that pushed Tunisia towards democracy.

It has been ten years since the 26-year-old fruit seller set himself on fire to protest corruption in Tunisia. The street vendor created a wave of protests in the Arab world, a campaign for civil resistance, better known as the "Arab Spring". The protests led to the removal of long-standing authoritarian regimes in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya. The civil resistance was a result of an economic crisis, high unemployment and corruption. The citizens of the arab world were demanding freedom of expression and greater civil rights. Tunisia became a successful example, where the country today is a complete democracy. In Egypt, the revolution also led to democratization, but for a short period of time. Egypt became more authoritarian after a coup led by the military. The other states failed and the consequences have been devastating with results of civil wars in Libya and Yemen. The main purpose of this essay was to sort out and understand why Tunisia succeeded to become a democracy after the arab spring 2010, while Egypt failed. A qualitative analysis with a comparative democratization study, composed of a most different system-design. The theoretical framework is based on Samuel Huntington (1991) “third wave democratization” and the author’s criteria on democracy, which includes regime legitimacy, economical modernization, and religious change.

In this study I explore how security sector reform affects the likelihood of democratization after a nonviolent resistance campaign in order to better understand the role of core security services during regime changes and the mechanisms of SSR. By using literature on nonviolence resistance, security sector reform, and by borrowing the concept ofspoilersfrom policy and peace-making literature, I hypothesise that SSR will likely increase the ability of core security actors to manage security problems in the transition after a nonviolent resistance campaign, as well as reduce spoiler capabilities among core security actors, thereby increasing the probability of democratization.I used the method of structured, focused comparison on the regime changes in Tunisia 2011-2014 and Egypt 2011-2013, and found some evidence contrary to the first, while limited support for the second.

The objective of this essay is to present both the reason behind the Egyptian democratization failure, as well as the cause of the success of the Tunisian democracy. The methodology of this essay is composed of a comparative democratization study, which includes a most similar systems-design method. The studies will try to pinpoint the key components of the result of the democratization, by using four of Larry Diamond’s nine internal and external democratization factors, which are presented in his book: ‘The Spirit of Democracy’. The results of this study indicate that Egypt had a far larger and more influential military force and also a critical economy, despite less international support for their democratization. Tunisia has a more democratic-oriented civil society and through democratic assistance from the European Union, a peaceful transition into a democratic system was possible. In this essay, a far deeper analysis of the democratization process will be highlighted, including how to prove how these essential factors caused the different outcomes of the Arabic spring protests.

This essay aims to examine how the democratization of Tunisia has taken place since the Arabic spring. It will also analyze how well the country qualifies as a consolidated democracy and what conflicts that have been the driving force of the democratization process. The essay is a qualitive case study and explores the years of 1987 to 2018. Moreover, it is supported by the democratization theory of Dankward A Rustow. The Arabic spring was a consequence of the high unemployment numbers, the poverty in the country and the discontent of the president’s approach of ruling. The road to the democracy has suffered from many difficulties due to influences of the previous authoritarian rule. The situation in Tunisia after the Arabic spring has been unstable and demonstrations in smaller scales has taken place. Today the country has free and fair elections regularly and 2014 a new constitution was introduced. However, people have not gained a better lifestyle from the democratization even though the democracy has flourished. Lastly, the Tunisian democracy is not yet consolidated and still needs to the implemented into the country’s laws and population.

The people in Tunisia demanded democracy and civil liberties, which led to large-scale demonstrations against the Tunisian regime in December 2010. The demonstrations against the authoritarian regime was considered to be the beginning of the Arab Spring. Of all states that was affected by the Arabic Spring, Tunisia became that one country that succeeded their transition from an authoritarian state to a democratic one. In order to analyze why Tunisia became a democratic state, this study aims to clarify what factors that affected the democratization process. Through the theoretical framework of Samuel P. Huntington, the factors that affected the third wave democratization are used in this study in order to analyze the Tunisian democratization and transition. Through analyzation; deepening legitimacy problems of the regime and economic growth was considered to affect the Tunisian democratization. Actions of external actors partly affected the country’s democratization. However, religious changes and snowballing effects was considered not to have an impact on the democratization and transition towards democracy.

This study examined the factors affecting the perception of Turkey in the Middle East from 2002 onwards by analyzing the combination of media, political elite discourse and people's political predispositions in the cases of Egypt and Tunisia. The research is separated into two parts. In the first part of 2002-2010, the factors of democratization, economic development, foreign policy activism, Islamic Oriented Government as well as Turkish TV series were found to be critical in the explanation of Turkey's popularity. In the second part of 2010-2013, democratization and foreign policy activism were the most effective factors while the other variables still had some effect. In particular the study looked at the news titles, articles, headlines in newspapers, as well as the views of journalists, activists, bloggers, politicians, and academics, which together shaped public perception. A brief historical background is also given in regards to the mutual prejudices and stereotypes between Arabs and Turks during Ottoman rule and the 20th century. The thesis concludes by emphasizing the continuation of democratic progress and reforms in Turkey as well as the need for foreign policy adjustment according to crisis situations as a policy recommendation for the government. The present study also seeks to contribute to both the public opinion theory of Zaller and the recent literature on the "Turkish Model".
M.A.
Masters
Political Science
Sciences
Political Science; International Studies Track

The theme of this study will be the Arab Spring and democratization. The impact of the Arab Spring has, in one form or another, extended to almost all countries of the Arab region in the MENA. However, this paper will be limited to compare two countries, in particular, Tunisia and Egypt by analyzing their democratization and examining how two similar states achieved widely differing outcomes in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Tunisia and Egypt are both predominantly Muslim-majority, Arabic-speaking countries, and both of them were subject to authoritarian regimes (Ben Ali in Tunisia, Mubarak in Egypt) before the outbreak of the Arab Spring. After the first wave of uprisings, Tunisia made remarkable progress in the transition to democracy, but in Egypt, the situation altered when the army overthrew a democratically elected president, and then the country underwent a counter-revolution, bringing it back to square one (i.e. the yoke of tyranny). The four variables that this research will revolve around as an explanation and possible analysis of the secret of this difference in outcomes between these two countries are the role of the international and regional community, the position of the military and armed forces in the state, the role of religious political parties, and the effectiveness of civil society organizations across the country. After reviewing all four variables, the final result of the paper suggests that the military, religious, international, and civil society variables are the strongest indicators of the reason for the great difference in the democratic progress in both countries. This paper facilitates an understanding of democratization by identifying the critical factors in determining whether a nation's transition from dictatorship to democracy will be successful or not. Key Words: the Middle East and North Africa, Arab Spring, Democratization, Egypt, Tunisia.

In questo lavoro di ricerca si è tentato di rispondere alla domanda se la teoria dell’universalità di certi diritti come quelli riguardanti i vulnerabili, in particolare le minoranze, donne e bambini, possa essere estesa anche a Paesi di fede musulmana che, al contrario, insistono sulla specificità culturale. È il caso della Tunisia che si è scelto di studiare in virtù del suo passato ricco di civilizzazioni e del nuovo processo di democratizzazione in corso, senza trascurare l’importanza della sua adesione a interessanti accordi internazionali come il Patto di Barcellona. Si è quindi compreso che l’ostacolo alla protezione di certi diritti non può essere attribuito solo alla religione poiché, anche se le diverse confessioni non esistessero, non sarebbe ugualmente facile garantire il rispetto incondizionato dei diritti dei vulnerabili, in particolare di quelle minoranze come gli handicappati e gli omosessuali, che non possono mai diventare, né diventeranno, una maggioranza. Al fine di ridurre e / o risolvere queste forti disparità relative a qualsivoglia ordinamento giuridico, compreso quello del Paese studiato, sarà necessario rendere la libertà di coscienza un principio generale ed efficace erga omnes e assicurare che la società civile sia rafforzata e sensibilizzata verso la tutela dei diritti fondamentali. Ciò dovrà avvenire non solo a livello locale ma universale, attraverso un dialogo tra maggioranze e minoranze, nel segno della vera democrazia, superando l'ostilità delle élites politiche che, il più delle volte, dietro le varie dichiarazioni di principio calpestano i diritti umani per scopi economici.
The aim of this work is to answer the research question of whether the theory of universality of certain rights such as those concerning the vulnerable, in particular minorities, women and children, can also be extended to muslim countries, which still insist on cultural specificity instead. Consequently, we decided to study the case of Tunisia, because of both its past full of different civilizations, and the new ongoing process of democratization, and the importance of its subscription to interesting international agreements, such as the Barcelona Pact. What was understood within this thesis is that the obstacle to the protection of certain rights cannot be blamed only on religion; in fact, even if different religions did not exist, it would not be easy as well to guarantee the unconditional respect of the rights of the vulnerable, especially of those minorities such as handicapped and homosexsuals, that unfortunately cannot and will never become a majority. Therefore, in order to reduce and / or resolve these strong disparities related to any legal system, including that of the studied country, it will be necessary to make freedom of conscience a general and effective principle erga omnes, and to ensure that civil society is strengthened and sensitized towards the protection of fundamental rights. This will have to take place not only on a local but also on a universal level, by exploiting dialogue between majorities and minorities, according to the principles of a real democracy. In this way, it would be possible to finally overcome the hostility of political élites which, most of the times, in spite of the various peaceful declarations, trample human rights for economic purposes.
En este trabajo de investigación se ha intentado responder a la pregunta si la teoría de la universalidad de algunos derechos, en particular aquellos de las personas indefensas, las minorías, mujeres y niños, pueda ser extendida también a los países de fe musulmana que, al contrario, insisten en la diversidad cultural. Es el caso de Túnez, el cual se ha elegido de estudiar teniendo en cuenta su pasado rico de civilizaciones y del nuevo proceso de democratización en curso, sin pasar por alto la importancia de su adhesión a los interesantes acuerdos internacionales, como el Pacto de Barcelona. Entonces se ha entendido que el obstáculo de la protección de algunos derechos no puede ser atribuido solo a la religión, ya que si las diversas religiones no existieran, no sería fácil garantizar el respeto incondicional de los derechos de los más vulnerables, en particular de aquellas minorías como las personas con discapacidad y homosexuales, que no pueden nunca convertirse, ni se convertirán, en una mayoría. Con el fin de reducir y/o eliminar estas fuertes desigualdades relacionadas con cualquier ordenamiento jurídico, incluido el país objeto de estudio, será necesario hacer de la libertad de conciencia un principio general con eficacia erga omnes y asegurar que la sociedad civil se vea reforzada y sensibilizada hacia la protección de los derechos fundamentales. Esto tendrá que suceder no solo a nivel local sino también universal, a través de un dialogo entre mayorías y minorías, bajo el signo de la verdadera democracia, superando la hostilidad de las élites políticas, que en la mayoría de los casos, detrás de las diferentes declaraciones de principios, pisotean los derechos humanos por objetivos económicos.

Why do revolutions happen? What role do structures, institutions, and actors play in precipitating (or preventing) them? Finally, What might compel social mobilization against a regime in the face of potentially insurmountable odds? These questions are all fundamentally about state-society (strategic) interactions, and elite and societal preference formation over time. The self-immolation of Muhammad Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid on December 17, 2010, served as a focal point upon which over twenty years of corrupt, coercive authoritarian rule were focused into a single, unified challenge to the Ben Ali regime. The regime's brutality was publicized via social media activism and satellite television, precipitating mass mobilization across Tunisia and, eventually, throughout the region and beyond. In light of the rapid and unforeseen nature of these events, scholars writing about the causes of the Arab Spring have focused their critiques on scholarship that they felt overemphasized the role of institutions and elite-level actors over 'under the radar' changes within society. This paper essentially agrees with this point of view, but is not content to simply 'throw out' institutionalism. As Timur Kuran (1991) argued in the wake of the unforeseen collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, one cannot understand revolution without understanding the 'true' preferences of social actors. In this way, the inevitability of revolutionary surprises seems a given so long as analysts continue to look from the top-down. Yet, this paper contends that institutions do still matter. They matter because different institutional arrangements incentivize and constrain regime strategies, which, in turn, inform the strategic calculations and preference orderings within society. These two societal variables are determined - in part - by the degree of regime flexibility, and they affect whether, how, and where social actors choose to vent their dissent. This paper proposes a model for the development of contentious social mobilization under authoritarianism. In order to do so, two models - one game-theoretic, and the other rooted in the contentious politics subfield of political sociology - are synthesized toward elucidating how altered societal preferences affect strategic interactions between the regime and society over time and during acute contentious episodes. The synthesized model is then illustrated through narrative case studies of two North African states that experienced divergent outcomes in the wake of the Arab Spring: Tunisia and Morocco. The limited spaces and institutions for the expression of dissent in Tunisia gradually changed societal preferences over time. In 2010, Tunisians' preferences shifted from various socioeconomic demands and other issue-specific grievances toward a galvanized demand for the fall of the regime. In Morocco, on the other hand, social actors, by and large, continued to prefer limited reforms to a complete upheaval of the political system. This paper contends that this divergence in preferences and therefore outcomes was in part determined by the variation in the two regimes' respective strategic mixes of concessions and/or coercion. To the extent that such strategies and institutions were more flexible - i.e. were more permissive of (limited) political contention and contestation - social movements were less likely to become emboldened against the regime.

The diploma thesis deals with the regime change in the context of the Arab Spring 2011 with focus on Tunisia, Egypt and Syria. The aim of the thesis is to determine factors causing different progress towards political reforms in each country. Theoretical framework is provided by characteristics of undemocratic regimes, transitions to democracy and democracy itself. Each country is introduced from the historical point of view with focus on the 20th century, especially current methods of the governance. Several conclusions are made based on analytical -- synthetical method of reviewing historical, political and socioeconomical factors determining the domestic situation in compared countries and explaining their influence on different transition progress towards the new political system.

Does banning opposition candidates from ballots increase the risk that they will turn to bullets instead? Globally, since the end of the Cold War, blatant election rigging tactics (such as ballot box stuffing) are being replaced by 'strategic rigging': subtler procedural manipulations aimed at winning while maintaining the guise of legitimacy in the eyes of international observers. In particular, incumbents (in regimes stuck between democracy and authoritarianism) are turning to 'electoral exclusion', neutralizing key rivals by illegitimately banning certain candidates, in turn reducing the need for cruder forms of election day rigging. I used mixed methods - combining insights from an original global dataset with extensive elite interviews conducted in five countries (Madagascar, Thailand, Tunisia, Zambia, and Côte d'Ivoire) - to establish that electoral exclusion is an attractive short-term election strategy for vulnerable incumbents that produces a much higher chance of victory but comes with high costs in the longer-term. Global probit modeling (using electoral exclusion as an independent variable and coups d'état and civil wars as separate dependent variables) suggests that, since the end of the Cold War, excluding opposition candidates from the ballot roughly doubles the risk of a coup d'état or quadruples the risk of civil war onset. In spite of these risks, incumbents fall into this 'exclusion trap' because of the shortened time horizon that frequently accompanies competitive multi-party elections. Vulnerable incumbents worry more about the short-term risk of losing an election than the long-term but ultimately unknown risk that political violence will ensue after the election. Finally, the inverse corollary of these findings is that inclusion of opposition candidates during multi-party elections can be a stabilizing factor. Though it may seem counterintuitive, fragile 'counterfeit democracies' - and so-called 'transitional' regimes - may be able to stave off existential threats to regime survival by extending an olive branch to their fiercest opponents. These findings combine to form the overarching argument of this dissertation: when opposition candidates are excluded from the ballot, they become more likely to turn to bullets by launching coups d'état and civil wars.

Depuis la révolution de 2011, la participation politique en Tunisie s’est caractérisée par un certain « néophytisme », impliquant les transnationaux dans ces nouvelles pratiques citoyennes. Dans la présente recherche, nous nous sommes intéressée à la politisation inédite des Tunisiens à l’Etranger, depuis le pays d’accueil. Notre intérêt a porté essentiellement sur la construction du transnationalisme politique tunisien, dans un nouveau contexte de démocratisation du pays d’origine. Notre travail théorique s’est basé sur l’interdisciplinarité, qui nécessite le recours à la pluri méthodologie au niveau de l’investigation empirique. Pour ce faire, nous avons fait un état des lieux de la recherche portant sur l’évolution du transnationalisme tant sur le plan scientifique qu’institutionnel. Au moyen du Questionnaire, nous avons exploré un échantillon de 300 électeurs à distance de trois agglomérations, de la région Rhône-Alpes, différant du point de vue de la taille (nombre d’habitants) et ce au niveau, essentiellement, des motivations au vote à distance. Nous avons eu recours au guide d’entretien semi-directif, pour être en mesure d’appréhender les représentations, attitudes et identifications d’un groupe d’interviewés (militants, candidats et députés de l’Etranger résidant en France), issus de la même population-mère (les transnationaux tunisiens). Cette recherche nous a permis de constater, entre autres, une forme de liminalité caractérisant la situation transitoire des transnationaux tunisiens, au niveau du passage du disempowred à l’empowerment individuel. Dans un contexte de changement politique du pays d’origine,le néophytisme électoral de bon nombre de transnationaux tunisiens dénoterait une politisation encore en gestation
Ever since the 2011 Tunisian Revolution, participation in the political process amongst the citizens of Tunisia has been characterized by a high degree of neophytism. Included amongst these new participants partaking in these newly available political rights are high levels of internationally based Tunisian transnational’s. Our research is interested in the unprecedented politicization of Tunisians residing abroad away from Tunisia. Our interest focused on the construction of Tunisian political transnationalism, within a new contextual paradigm of the recent democratization of their country of origin. Our theoretical work as based upon the usage of various inter-disciplinary methods, which required the use of multi-methodological approaches for the necessary level of effective empirical investigation. To do this, we created an inventory of research on the evolution of transnationalism available both scientifically and institutionally. Utilizing the Questionnaire, we explored a sample of 300 voters from a distance of three agglomerations in the Rhône-Alpes region, differing in population size based upon the number of inhabitants residing within them. We were primarily interested in their motivations for participating in remote voting. We used the semi-directive interview method to be able to deeply understand the representations, attitudes and identities of a diverse group of interviewees. This included transnational activists, candidates, and deputies from abroad residing in France who originatedfrom the same mother country of Tunisia. This research has allowed us to notably observe, amongst other things, a form of liminality that is characteristic of the transitional situation experienced by Tunisian transnational’s politically. This is specifically seen with regards to their passage from being disempowered politically to being individually empowered. Within the context of rapid political change in their country of origin, the political and electoral neophytism of many Tunisian transnational’s isrepresentative of a politicization process still in the making

La protection constitutionnelle des droits de l’homme dans le monde arabe repose sur un processus complexe de démocratisation qui s’est accéléré après le Printemps arabe de 2011. L’émergence des droits de l’Homme s’impose comme un projet politique fort dans tous les pays qui sont l’objet de notre étude (Tunisie, Égypte, Algérie, Maroc) et nous démontre que le concept démocratique, dans son acception universaliste, n’est pas incompatible avec l’Islam. La constitutionnalisation des droits de l’Homme reste un apport majeur des mouvements constitutionnalistes qui ont érigé la constitution au rang de norme suprême de l’État de droit. Malgré l’instrumentalisation des constitutions par les dirigeants arabes et l’utilisation abusive de l’état d’urgence, nous assistons au rôle croissant du juge constitutionnel dans la protection des libertés fondamentales (contrôle constitutionnel) sous l’œil vigilent de la société civile et de la communauté internationale
The constitutional protection of human rights in the Arab world is based on a complex process of democratization that has accelerated after the Arab Spring of 2011. The emergence of human rights is a strong political project in all the countries that are the subject of our study (Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco) and shows us that the democratic concept, in its universalist sense, is not incompatible with Islam. The constitutionalization of human rights remains a major contribution of the constitutionalist movements that have made the constitution a supreme norm of the rule of law. Despite the instrumentalization of constitutions by Arab leaders and the misuse of the state of emergency, we are witnessing the growing role of the constitutional judge in the protection of fundamental freedoms (constitutional control) under the watchful eye of civil society and international community

Defence date: 10 July 2017
Examining Board: Professor Olivier Roy, European University Institute (supervisor); Professor Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute; Professor Malika Zeghal, Harvard University; Associate professor Nadia Marzouki, EHESS
The Tunisian Revolution and constitutional process constitute the first successful indigenous democratization process in the Arab World. In this article based thesis the historic event is analysed and discussed in relation to the established theories of democratization. The thesis contains four different articles. The first focuses on why the Tunisian Islamists accepted the country’s new constitution despite the fact that it contained principles that were in opposition to some of their previous Islamist beliefs. The second centres on the role of the Tunisian General Labor Union. It seeks to explain why the union could play such a crucial role in the revolution and constitutional process despite the fact that its leadership had close connections to the previous regime. The third article looks into how the Tunisian religious sphere changed as a result of the revolution. The fourth article tries to answer why the revolution came to be understood as a conflict between 'Islamists' and 'secularists' through an analysis of the conflict between the Islamists and the Tunisian General Labor Union. Finally, in the last chapter the state of comparative politics is discussed in relation to the conclusions of the different articles.
Chapter 4 ‘The Tunisian revolution and governance of religion' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'The Tunisian revolution and governance of religion' (2017) in the journal ‘Middle East critique’
Chapter 2 ‘The Islamists’ compromise in Tunisia' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'The Islamists’ compromise in Tunisia' (2015) in the journal ‘Journal of democracy'
Chapter 3 ‘The Tunisian General Labor Union and the advent of democracy' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'The Tunisian General Labor Union and the advent of democracy' (2016) in the journal ‘The Middle East journal’

This graduate thesis analyses the EU security policy towards the Maghreb between 2005 and 2010. It does so in order to ascertain to what extent the level of practical policy corresponds with the level of declarations. Also, by using the promotion of democratic governance in the Maghreb countries under the ENP as s case study, the thesis means to challenge the proposition that European Union can be described as a 'Normative Power'. First chapter briefly presents the concept of 'Normative Power Europe'. Following section looks at the European Security Strategy and localizes the primary position of the goal of democracy promotion in the document. Third part gives an overview of the European policy towards the Mediterranean under which EU relations with the Maghreb have been framed. Most attention is paid to the European Neighbourhood Policy. Next chapter examines the level of practical EU policy. It consists of three separate case studies of European policy towards Tunisia, Morocco and Libya between 2005 and 2010. The fifth and final part qualitatively analyses the way four factors (trade, energy, migration and terrorism) contributed to the structuring of relations of Tunisia, Morocco and Libya with Spain, France and Italy. The thesis arrives at the conclusion that while at the declaratory level the EU strives...