Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa information
Overview of the role and situation of democracy in the Middle East and North Africa
Map of V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index in the Middle East for 2023
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The state of Democracy in Middle East and North Africa can be comparatively assessed[1] according to various definitions of democracy.[2] According to The Economist Group's Democracy Index 2023 study, Israel is the only democratic country in the region, qualified as a "flawed democracy" (#30 worldwide). According to the V-Dem Democracy indices, the Middle Eastern and North African countries with the highest scores in 2024 are Israel, Tunisia and Iraq.[3]
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Events of the "Arab Spring" such as the Tunisian Revolution may indicate a move towards democracy in some countries which may not be fully captured in the democracy index. In 2015, Tunisia became the first Arab country classified as free since the beginning of Lebanon's civil war 40 years ago.[4]
Theories are diverse on the subject. "Revisionist theories" argue that democracy is slightly incompatible with Middle Eastern values.[5] On the other hand, "post-colonial" theories (such as those put forth by Edward Said) for the relative absence of democracy in the Middle East are diverse, from the long history of imperial rule by the Ottoman Empire, United Kingdom and France and the contemporary political and military intervention by the United States, all of which have been blamed for preferring authoritarian regimes because this ostensibly simplifies the business environment, while enriching the governing elite and the companies of the imperial countries. Other explanations include the problem that most of the states in the region are rentier states, which experience the theorized resource curse.
This article follows sources that place Cyprus in Europe,[6][7] not the Middle East.
^Geissel, Brigitte; Kneuer, Marianne; Lauth, Hans-Joachim (2016). "Measuring the quality of democracy: Introduction". International Political Science Review. 37 (5). Sage Publications: 571–579. doi:10.1177/0192512116669141. ISSN 0192-5121. JSTOR 26556872. S2CID 151808737. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
^Greenwood, Shannon (2022-12-06). "Appendix A: Classifying democracies". Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
^Cite error: The named reference report was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Keating, Joshua (28 January 2015). "Why Was Tunisia the Only Arab Spring Country That Turned Out Well?". Slate.
^Lewis, Bernard. What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East
^"BBC News – Cyprus country profile". BBC News. March 2012.
^"Europe map / Map of Europe – Facts, Geography, History of Europe – Worldatlas.com". Retrieved 20 May 2015.
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