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11 Middle E. L. & Governance 1 (2019)

handle is hein.journals/measterna11 and id is 1 raw text is: 
                                                                    MIDDLE EAST
            MIDDLE  EAST  LAW AND  GOVERNANCE 11   (2019) 1-37        LAWAND
                                                                     INTERDISCIPUNARY
                                                                   GOVERNANCE
                                                                         JOURNAL
BRILL                                                              brillcom/melg



Cartelization, Neoliberalism, and the Foreclosure

of  the  Jasmine Revolution: Democracy's Troubles

in  Tunisia


        Colin Powers
        Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
        cpower5@jhu.edu



        Abstract

While frequently hailed as the sole success story of the Arab Uprisings, the consolida-
tion of Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution has in fact proven deeply problematic. This paper
will argue that the frailty of Tunisia's democratic present is a direct function of lib-
eral democratization, specifically implicating this practice of democratization in the
hollowing and cartelization of the political system. In insulating policymaking within
a host of nocturnal councils, I will argue that liberal democratization has purposefully
obstructed the translation of popular preferences into policy outcomes, thereby pre-
venting the Tunisian people from realizing the social democracy they so clearly desire.



        Keywords

Democratization - neoliberalism - Islamism



While  frequently hailed as the sole success story of the Arab  Uprisings, the
consolidation  of Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution has in fact proven deeply prob-
lematic. A brief survey of either the municipal elections of 20181 or the national
elections of 2011 and 2014,2 for example, reveals a polity plagued by stubborn,


I  As documented by the Instance Superieure Independante Pour Les Elections (ISIE), 2018'S
   Municipal Elections saw only 33.7% of the 5.4 million registered voters turn out at the polls
   (or a real voter turnout of roughly 1.8 million). http://www.isie.tn/.
2  Benjamin Preisler, Three Remarks on the Tunisian elections, The Washington Post,
   January 5,2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/o/o5/three-
   remarks-on-the-tunisian-elections/?noredirect=on&utmterm= .4e926cc6ba65-


©  KONINKLIJKE BRILL NV, LEIDEN, 2019  DOI 10.1163/18763375-01101003

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