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11-21-2008, 01:27 AM
Democracy deficit in Arab world due to oil wealth, conflicts, not religion.
http://www.aub.edu.lb/news-images/87720-1
[L--R] Noughton, Bitar, Dorman, Makdisi, and El Badawi
The reason the Arab world has lagged behind in democratization is mainly due to oil wealth and conflicts, rather than religion and social structure, concurred researchers at an AUB conference on October 24-25.
The two-day conference, titled "Explaining the Democracy Deficit in the Arab world," held October 24-25 in College Hall B, is the outcome of a major research project hosted by the Institute of Financial Economics, which organized the conference. The project was supported by a research grant from the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC). Co-managed by Dr. Samir Makdisi, from AUB and Dr. Ibrahim El Badawi, from the World Bank, the project aimed to identify the factors that explain why autocracies in the Arab region persist, despite notable socio-economic growth in the past five decades. It is a collaborative work involving 18 established regional and international researchers, from Arab and Western countries, who have been working together for the past two years. Based on a cross-country work of the region, the researchers conducted in-depth case studies on eight Arab countries to determine the specific factors that account for their democracy deficit.
"This study began with the observation that there is a lack of correlation in the Arab World between the rise in real per capita income and standards of living and education, on the one hand, and a significantly growing democratization process on the other... contrary to the general experience of other regions in the world," said Professor Samir Makdisi.
http://www.aub.edu.lb/news-images/87720-3
Makdisi: No correlation between rise in income and growth in democracy in Arab world
Ibrahim El Badawi and Gary Milante from the World Bank Research Group presented the findings of the cross-country study they had conducted with Makdisi on the causes of the democracy deficit in the Arab region. They noted that they studied several factors that have been commonly thought to be the cause of this deficit in the Arab world. These factors included the colonial legacy in these countries, religious-based or -influenced political systems, the structure of Arab society, social cohesion and sectarianism, oil, international interventions, and local and regional conflicts. However, researchers found that, at the regional level, the two basic variables that hindered the development of democratization were oil wealth and regional conflicts, especially the Arab/Israeli conflict, but also regional wars and civil conflicts.
"There was no significant effect from religion, colonization or social cohesion," said Milante. "Arab oil dependency has been a hindrance to the region's democracy, confirming the findings of a number or researchers. Moreover, inter-state wars and other violent conflicts also have an effect on retarding the democratization process.""Generally while oil and conflict do play a very important role that varies from one country to another we have to go beyond these two variables to fully understand why autocratic forms of government have persisted in Arab countries--Lebanon, with its partial democracy, being an exception," said Makdisi.
This is where the country case studies come in. Their presentations at the conference demonstrated that, for each of the countries that have been examined, a number of country-specific factors can be identified to explain why autocratic regimes persist.At the conclusion of the conference, the co-managers noted that a synthesis paper is being prepared and will include a section on how to move forward in the Arab democratization process. Moreover, a manuscript including all the research papers will be submitted for publication.
The conference was opened by AUB President Peter Dorman, who congratulated researchers on studying "a topic that cannot be more timely." Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Khalil Bitar also thanked IDRC, represented by Emma Naughton for its financial support, and recognized Makdisi's efforts in contributing to the research. He also encouraged researchers to study the impact of education on democratization.
http://www.aub.edu.lb/news-images/87720-1
[L--R] Noughton, Bitar, Dorman, Makdisi, and El Badawi
The reason the Arab world has lagged behind in democratization is mainly due to oil wealth and conflicts, rather than religion and social structure, concurred researchers at an AUB conference on October 24-25.
The two-day conference, titled "Explaining the Democracy Deficit in the Arab world," held October 24-25 in College Hall B, is the outcome of a major research project hosted by the Institute of Financial Economics, which organized the conference. The project was supported by a research grant from the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC). Co-managed by Dr. Samir Makdisi, from AUB and Dr. Ibrahim El Badawi, from the World Bank, the project aimed to identify the factors that explain why autocracies in the Arab region persist, despite notable socio-economic growth in the past five decades. It is a collaborative work involving 18 established regional and international researchers, from Arab and Western countries, who have been working together for the past two years. Based on a cross-country work of the region, the researchers conducted in-depth case studies on eight Arab countries to determine the specific factors that account for their democracy deficit.
"This study began with the observation that there is a lack of correlation in the Arab World between the rise in real per capita income and standards of living and education, on the one hand, and a significantly growing democratization process on the other... contrary to the general experience of other regions in the world," said Professor Samir Makdisi.
http://www.aub.edu.lb/news-images/87720-3
Makdisi: No correlation between rise in income and growth in democracy in Arab world
Ibrahim El Badawi and Gary Milante from the World Bank Research Group presented the findings of the cross-country study they had conducted with Makdisi on the causes of the democracy deficit in the Arab region. They noted that they studied several factors that have been commonly thought to be the cause of this deficit in the Arab world. These factors included the colonial legacy in these countries, religious-based or -influenced political systems, the structure of Arab society, social cohesion and sectarianism, oil, international interventions, and local and regional conflicts. However, researchers found that, at the regional level, the two basic variables that hindered the development of democratization were oil wealth and regional conflicts, especially the Arab/Israeli conflict, but also regional wars and civil conflicts.
"There was no significant effect from religion, colonization or social cohesion," said Milante. "Arab oil dependency has been a hindrance to the region's democracy, confirming the findings of a number or researchers. Moreover, inter-state wars and other violent conflicts also have an effect on retarding the democratization process.""Generally while oil and conflict do play a very important role that varies from one country to another we have to go beyond these two variables to fully understand why autocratic forms of government have persisted in Arab countries--Lebanon, with its partial democracy, being an exception," said Makdisi.
This is where the country case studies come in. Their presentations at the conference demonstrated that, for each of the countries that have been examined, a number of country-specific factors can be identified to explain why autocratic regimes persist.At the conclusion of the conference, the co-managers noted that a synthesis paper is being prepared and will include a section on how to move forward in the Arab democratization process. Moreover, a manuscript including all the research papers will be submitted for publication.
The conference was opened by AUB President Peter Dorman, who congratulated researchers on studying "a topic that cannot be more timely." Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Khalil Bitar also thanked IDRC, represented by Emma Naughton for its financial support, and recognized Makdisi's efforts in contributing to the research. He also encouraged researchers to study the impact of education on democratization.