Democratic Waves in Arab World: Ideology and Typology

Abstract

The term “Arab World” is used to denote the geographical and nation-state entities in the modern West Asian and North African region popularly referred in its abbreviated version WANA. Democratic waves encapsulate the popular civilian uprisings, revolts, resistance, revolutionary upsurge, rebellion taking place from time to time in Arab world leading to political - regime transitions and profound convulsions in economy, society, culture ,literature, art and ideas. The contemporary WANA took birth in the interregnum of two world wars involving the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and emergence of new nation-states as designed by the European colonial masters. The new political restructuring fundamentally replaced the ancient tribalism. The characteristics of modern states like bureaucracy, organized army, police force and other coercive apparatuses, hierarchical judicial system, municipal administrative units made their historic appearance. Across the Arab world, the political system has been largely authoritarian and dictatorial in nature. The implanted monarchies referred to as the Sheikhdoms, military dictators usurping power through bloody coups and individual dictators based on popular revolutionary upsurge have been the characteristics of regimes of the Arab world. The popular democratic sentiments were crushed by the state apparatus leading to large scale bloodsheds. The modern Arab political history is replete with such instances of popular civilian democratic waves impacting the entire spectrum of their society. Undoubtedly, these upsurges didn't take place in any vacuum but were largely conditioned by contemporary political and economic changes. Besides this, these democratic waves were based on ideological frameworks containing the elements of Marxian socialism, Arab nationalism and Islam. These democratic waves have also been approached by construction of some typologies involving regional pattern, economic system and regime types. This paper is an humble attempt to understand those ideological frameworks inspiring, instigating, guiding and reinvigorating democratic sentiments and revolutionary movements against authoritarian regimes demanding freedom, liberty, rights, equality, justice, rule of law, representative institutions, responsible and accountable governance. Further, it also endeavors to analyse patterns and typology of those democratic waves convulsing the polities, economies and societies of the Arab world.