The Double Edge: Contradictory Functions of Civil Society Organizations in the Tunisian Democratic Process
type: CreativeWork
description: “Democratic transition,” the act of becoming democratic, and “democratic consolidation,” the subsequent actions that solidify the achievement of becoming democratic, are two separate processes that go hand in hand. While several Arab Spring nations overthrew their dictators, fewer underwent a democratic transition, and only one – Tunisia – achieved democratic consolidation (Bouchlaghem and Thepaut, 2019; Sadiki, 2019; Gianni, 2019). Tunisia constitutes the sole Arab Spring country to have: 1) created and adopted a new constitution; 2) formed and institutionalized political parties that peacefully share power; and 3) achieved multiple rounds of free and fair elections (Al-Anani, 2014; Yerkes, 2019). Scholarly consensus credits Tunisia’s civil society, a presence which predates the Arab Spring, with the nation’s successful democratization (Boose, 2013; Yerkes, 2019; Giani, 2019). Despite the clear benefits of its vibrant civil society, Tunisia’s democratic transition and subsequent democratic consolidation were not without challenges. Some of these challenges have been resolved, while others represent serious ongoing factors that must continue to be managed (Chabkoun, 2015). Thus, an examination into Tunisia’s transition to democracy suggests that the scholarly consensus that a vibrant civil society has a uniformly positive influence on democratization lacks nuance, and if ignored in Tunisia’s future policymaking, threatens to derail Tunisia’s democratic gains. In order to understand the full impact of civil society organizations have on the Tunisian democratic process, I chose to delineate my research project into three distinct units – each unit becoming its own chapter in my dissertation. The first article provides an extensive scholarly overview of the role of civil society in Tunisia, grappling with the oftentimes self-contradictory nature of civil society activity in Tunisia. The second article is a qualitative analysis of the collected data that contributed to …
abstract: “Democratic transition,” the act of becoming democratic, and “democratic consolidation,” the subsequent actions that solidify the achievement of becoming democratic, are two separate processes that go hand in hand. While several Arab Spring nations overthrew their dictators, fewer underwent a democratic transition, and only one – Tunisia – achieved democratic consolidation (Bouchlaghem and Thepaut, 2019; Sadiki, 2019; Gianni, 2019). Tunisia constitutes the sole Arab Spring country to have: 1) created and adopted a new constitution; 2) formed and institutionalized political parties that peacefully share power; and 3) achieved multiple rounds of free and fair elections (Al-Anani, 2014; Yerkes, 2019). Scholarly consensus credits Tunisia’s civil society, a presence which predates the Arab Spring, with the nation’s successful democratization (Boose, 2013; Yerkes, 2019; Giani, 2019). Despite the clear benefits of its vibrant civil society, Tunisia’s democratic transition and subsequent democratic consolidation were not without challenges. Some of these challenges have been resolved, while others represent serious ongoing factors that must continue to be managed (Chabkoun, 2015). Thus, an examination into Tunisia’s transition to democracy suggests that the scholarly consensus that a vibrant civil society has a uniformly positive influence on democratization lacks nuance, and if ignored in Tunisia’s future policymaking, threatens to derail Tunisia’s democratic gains. In order to understand the full impact of civil society organizations have on the Tunisian democratic process, I chose to delineate my research project into three distinct units – each unit becoming its own chapter in my dissertation. The first article provides an extensive scholarly overview of the role of civil society in Tunisia, grappling with the oftentimes self-contradictory nature of civil society activity in Tunisia. The second article is a qualitative analysis of the collected data that contributed to …
author: Ben Ali, Dhia
keywords: Advocacy Coalition Framework, Arab Spring, Civil Society, Democratization, Tunisia, Political Theory, Public Policy
date published: 2021-05-01T07:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:59:40Z
provider: University of Arkansas
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Arkansas