Moroccan Soft Revolution in the Era of the Arab Spring: Reforms, Assessment, and Prospects

In the era of the Arab Spring, some nations have chosen to overthrow their former political regimes, while others have selected to keep the status quo. Others still, like Morocco, have opted for change through a peaceful transition. The purpose of this study was to explore the Moroccan soft revolution in the context of the Arab Spring because the factors behind this quiet transition have not been identified in the literature and little is known about the implementation of the proposed reforms. Research questions concerned the factors behind the Moroccan quiet transition, assessment of the ongoing change, and the prospects for continuing change. Etzioni's active society theory provided a theoretical framework for the study. The research methodology involved a qualitative exploratory case study design. Data consisted of public archival records that were analyzed using an open and an axial coding approach to create categories that revealed emerging themes. According to study findings, the most important factors behind Moroccan soft revolution are the adoption of a new constitution and the willingness of the monarchy to share the power with other stakeholders including moderate Islamists. Etzioni's theory was useful by confirming that Morocco, as an active society, has accomplished gradual change by building political consensus, maintaining stability, and achieving social and economic development. Nonetheless, many barriers, such as centralization of decision making, corruption, and lack of accountability affect the implementation of the reforms and make the prospects for continuing change uncertain. This study can lead to positive social change by providing policy makers in Arab countries with information on ways to achieve change through peaceful transitions.