Suchergebnisse

Defence date: 13 May 2015 ; Examining Board: Professor Donatella della Porta, (EUI Supervisor); Professor Philippe Schmitter, European University Institute; Professor Jeff Goodwin, New York University; Professor Emma Murphy, Durham University. ; The thesis analyzes the interaction between authoritarian rule, and societal mobilization by focusing on the two uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt /./ When the Arab spring started in the marginalized interior areas of Tunisia and spread to the densely populated capital of Egypt, removing two of the longest-standing dictators in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), it left observers and scholars with many puzzles to solve. After all, this was a region studied for its sturdy resistance to pressures for democratization. Scholars who had predominantly been occupied with understanding the unusual stability of Middle Eastern autocracies suddenly found themselves in need to explain the opposite – their unexpected vulnerability in the face of popular resistance. Their theories it seemed, were ill equipped for the task. Emerging out of the democratization-focused transitions literature, authoritarianism studies had in recent years departed from asking how institutions could push along democratization, to focus instead on how even seemingly democratic institutions could provide authoritarian regimes with stability and longevity. Their analysis thus heavily leaned on understanding elite coalitions and the institutions – formal or informal – that ensured regime maintenance. When scholars tried to understand the role of political opposition forces under authoritarian rule, it was mostly in the framework of either their lack of role or their (unwilling) support of authoritarian rule. The masses over which these regimes ruled, however, only rarely put in an appearance. It does therefore not come as a surprise that authoritarianism studies should have missed the widespread grievances brewing within Middle Eastern societies.

When at the height of the 'Arab Spring' Egyptians from all walks of life took to the streets to oust one of the Arab world's most long-standing dictators, it took both Egyptians and outside observers by surprise. This report explores the events commonly described as the January 25 Revolution in Egypt, as well as the immediate transitional period that followed the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, marked by recurrent unrest and mobilization. Starting from a detailed empirical description of the events themselves, it will illustrate the conditions that led to the uprising by embedding them in a more structural analysis covering the regime's origins and historical trajectories as well as more recent developments in the last ten years. Together these circumstances created a set of political opportunities that inventive actors seized upon to set in motion a process that in the course of only a few weeks mobilized a cross-class coalition to bring about the seemingly impossible. However, in elucidating the transitional phase and the struggles it entails in more detail, the report also shows how the opportunities and processes conducive to the breakdown of Egypt's authoritarian regime are not necessarily those most conducive to the establishment of a new, democratic one. ; The research project 'Mobilizing for Democracy: Democratization Processes and the Mobilization of Civil Society' is funded by European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant. (Grant Agreeement no: 269136.)

This last title in the series covers the most important findings of the five years EU sponsored ANTICORRP project dealing with corruption and organized crime. How prone to corruption are EU funds? Has EU managed to improve governance in the countries that it assists? Using the new index of public integrity and a variety of other tools created in the project this issue looks at how EU funds and norms affected old member states (like Spain), new member states (Slovakia, Romania), accession countries (Turkey) and the countries recipient of development funds (Egypt, Tanzania, Tunisia). The data covers over a decade of structural and development funds, and the findings show the challenges to changing governance across borders, the different paths that each country has experienced and suggest avenues of reforming development aid for improving governance.

This last title in the series covers the most important findings of the five yearsEU sponsored ANTICORRP project dealing with corruption and organized crime.How prone to corruption are EU funds? Has EU managed to improve governancein the countries that it assists? Using the new index of public integrity and avariety of other tools created in the project this issue looks at how EU funds andnorms affected old member states (like Spain), new member states (Slovakia,Romania), accession countries (Turkey) and the countries recipient of developmentfunds (Egypt, Tanzania, Tunisia). The data covers over a decade of structuraland development funds, and the findings show the challenges to changing governanceacross borders, the different paths that each country has experiencedand suggest avenues of reforming development aid for improving governance.

This last title in the series covers the most important findings of the five yearsEU sponsored ANTICORRP project dealing with corruption and organized crime.How prone to corruption are EU funds? Has EU managed to improve governancein the countries that it assists? Using the new index of public integrity and avariety of other tools created in the project this issue looks at how EU funds andnorms affected old member states (like Spain), new member states (Slovakia,Romania), accession countries (Turkey) and the countries recipient of developmentfunds (Egypt, Tanzania, Tunisia). The data covers over a decade of structuraland development funds, and the findings show the challenges to changing governanceacross borders, the different paths that each country has experiencedand suggest avenues of reforming development aid for improving governance.

This last title in the series covers the most important findings of the five years EU sponsored ANTICORRP project dealing with corruption and organized crime. How prone to corruption are EU funds? Has EU managed to improve governance in the countries that it assists? Using the new index of public integrity and a variety of other tools created in the project this issue looks at how EU funds and norms affected old member states (like Spain), new member states (Slovakia, Romania), accession countries (Turkey) and the countries recipient of development funds (Egypt, Tanzania, Tunisia). The data covers over a decade of structural and development funds, and the findings show the challenges to changing governance across borders, the different paths that each country has experienced and suggest avenues of reforming development aid for improving governance.