Government 458: Arab Politics in Transition
Professor Stephen Juan King
Mondays and Wednesdays 12:30-1:45pm
Intercultural Center (ICC) 116
Office Hours 1:50-2:45pm Mondays and Wednesdays
kings@georgetown.edu
Class Content
This course introduces students to politics in the Arab world. It also examines
authoritarian persistence in the region, authoritarian breakdown, and prospects for
democratization, including the role of Islam in a democratic polity. Students will
leave the course with a basic understanding of Arab politics and analytical tools to
examine contemporary Arab politics. We survey Arab states from various analytical
perspectives. The empirical reach will be region-wide, though there is a particular
focus on the authoritarian regimes, which have broken down during the Arab Spring
and their efforts at democratic consolidation.
Requirements:
There will be two midterms consisting of identifications and provide the
significance of terms questions (25% each). There will be a final exam consisting of
identifications and essay questions (30%).
The class includes group work and powerpoint presentations on the Arab Spring (15%).
The groups will evaluate processes in the Maghrebi countries during the Arab Spring.
Each group will be responsible for one country and report to class on multiparty
politics/democracy, the role of the military in politics, state and nation-building, debates
about the role of Islam in politics, socio-economic conflicts and policies, debates about
new constitutions, and the political rights of women and minorities.
At the end of each class you will hand in a “class report” containing two sentences: (1)
what is the most important/interesting thing you learned in class that day and (2) what is
your most important/puzzling remaining question (5% with 4 excusable absences)?
Books are available at the Leavey Center Bookstore (Other reading material
will be placed on Blackboard):
Stephen J. King, The New Authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa
Michael Herb, All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the
Middle Eastern Monarchies
Malcolm Kerr, The Arab Cold War: Gamal 'Abd al-Nasir and His Rivals, 19581970
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Lisa Wedeen, Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in
Contemporary Syria
Asmaa Afsruddin, The First Muslims: History and Memory
Schedule
January 9: Introduction
January 14: Introduction
Joseph N. Weatherby, The Middle East and North Africa, pp.1-34, pp. 49-99, pp. 121185.
January 16: Typologizing Arab States
Henry and Springborg, Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle
East, pp. 1-19, 113-161.
January 23: Typologizing Arab States
Henry and Springborg, Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle
East, pp. 162-211.
January 28: Typologizing Arab States
Henry and Springborg, Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle
East, pp. 212-303.
January 30: Typologizing Arab States
Michael Herb, All in the Family, Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the
Middle Eastern Monarches, pp.1-50, 67-108.
Michael Ross, Michael L. Ross, "Does Oil Hinder Democracy?" World Politics (53:3)
April 2001: 325-61.
February 4: Midterm I
February 6: Authoritarian Persistence
Marsha Pripstein Posusney and Michele Penner Angrist, Authoritarianism in the
Middle East: Regimes and Resistance, pp. 1-62.
John Waterbury, “Democracy Without Democrats”
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February 11: Authoritarian Persistence
Lisa Wedeen, Ambiguities of Domination, pp. 1-87
February 13: Foreshadowing Authoritarian Breakdown
Asef Bayat, Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East, pp. 1-65.
February 20: Islam and Democracy
Asmah Afsaruddin, The First Muslims: History and Memory, pp.1-26, 77-95, 148199.
February 25: Islam and Democracy
Kal Helmy, Islamic Legacies and Democratic Transitions: The Dynamics of the
Integration of Islamist Parties in Liberalizing Political Systems”
Hamzawy, Ottoway, and Brown, “What Islamists Need to be clear About: The case of
the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood “
Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, Mobilizing Islam, pp. 1-20.
February 27: The Arab Israeli Conflict
Joel Benin and Lisa Hajjar, Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer
March 11: Transitions to Democracy
Guillermo O’Donnell and Philippe Schmitter, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule,
pp.1-24 and 37-47.
Stephen J. King, The New Authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa, pp.
17-30, pp. 182-192.
March 13: Midterm II
March 18: Authoritarian Breakdown in Tunisia
Michael Willis, Politics and Power in the Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from
Independence to the Arab Spring, pp. 1-120 (Read the analytical parts and the
Tunisia specific material. Consider the Algeria and Morocco sections as suggested
reading).
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March 20: Authoritarian Breakdown in Tunisia
Michael Willis, Politics and Power in the Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from
Independence to the Arab Spring, pp. 122-264 (Read the analytical parts and the
Tunisia specific material. Consider the Algeria and Morocco sections as suggested
reading).
March 25: Authoritarian Breakdown in Libya
Alison Pargeter, Libya: The Rise and Fall of Qaddafi pp. 1-91 and 213-257.
March 27: Authoritarian Breakdown in Egypt
Steven A. Cook, The Struggle for Egypt: From Nassir to Tahrir Square pp. 1-63 and
155-209.
April 3: Authoritarian Breakdown in Egypt
Steven A. Cook, The Struggle for Egypt: From Nassir to Tahrir Square pp. 64-107 and
272-307
April 10: Authoritarian Breakdown in Yemen
April Longley Alley, “The Rules of the Game: Unpacking Patronage Politics in Yemen
Robert Mitchell, “What the Social Sciences Can Tell Policy Makers in Yemen”
Vincent Durac, “Yemen’s Arab Spring—Democratic Opening or Regime
Maintenance”
April 15: The Syrian Rebellion
Fouad Ajami, The Syrian Rebellion pp. 5-68.
April 17: The Syrian Rebellion
Fouad Ajami, The Syrian Rebellion pp. 83-134, 157-194, 209-216.
April 22: Group Work the Arab Spring
April 24: Group Work the Arab Spring
April 29: Conclusion
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