POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN THE ARAB WORLD: THE MAJLIS MECHANISM (MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA

The central thesis of this study is that the majlis is the major instrument of political participation in the Arab world. Chapter I examines definitions of participation found in the literature and offers a modified definition with which to study Arab political systems. Proposals for study are: (1) Arab political behavior is logical within its own political culture; (2) Arab leaders are limited in power through informal mechanisms and procedures; (3) Arab political systems are participant through the majlis and its corollary processes; and (4) the majlis may be evaluated in terms of its role in modern political development.;The study is approached through the Arab political culture. In order to compare the Arab and Western systems, Chapter II presents a brief outline of the Western civic culture. Chapter III then describes the Arab political culture as it was found in tradition, reinforced by Islam, and evolved through historical experiences from the time of the Muslim empire until it was absorbed by the Ottomans. The participatory processes of the majlis, shown to permeate Arab society, are (1) consultation between the authority figure and representatives of the political community; (2) consensus in decision-making; and (3) personalistic representation through the political unit formed by blood-kin, marriage-kin, or patron-client relationships.;Chapter IV presents a comparative analysis of the Western and Arab systems, emphasizing the differences in the Arab authority figure and his Western counterpart, as well as the supplemental participatory institutions of political parties and voluntary associational groups. Chapters V and VI gather the materials of the previous chapters to test their findings and to determine how close is the fit between the propositions of Chapter III and individual Arab countries. Chapters V and VI discuss modern participation in local and national context. The countries primarily discussed in the two latter chapters are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain, with somewhat less information drawn from the cases of Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Morocco.;The concluding analysis takes note of some ways in which the West unnecessarily misunderstands Arab political behavior and re-examines the postulates of Chapter I, finding the first three generally valid. After discussing the advantages and disadvantages of participation via the majlis, the conclusion is drawn that this institution, utilized alone, is an inadequate political instrument for modernizing Arab society.