Autocracy, democracy and populism in the Arab region with reference to Tunisia

Abstract

In contrast with populism's recent manifestations in the West, where concerns of its posing a threat to established democracies have been raised, in the Arab region populist movements have often played a positive role in promoting transition towards democratic governance, the Tunisian experience being a notable illustration. A main explanation of this difference lies in the contrasting political contexts in the West and the Arab world: entrenched democracies vs with one or two exceptions varying forms of autocracies. Hajer El Ouardani is Assistant Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic and Quantitative Methods Department, the Higher School of Economic and Commercial Sciences at the University of Tunis; researcher at the Prospective, Stratégies et Développement Durable laboratory (University of Tunis El Manar) and member the Centre d'Etudes en Macroéconomie et Finance Internationale (Nice,France). Her research interests include monetary and fiscal economics and economies of the Middle East region. © 2018 Neuro-Ophthalmology Society of Japan. All rights reserved.