Appropriating Democratic Discourse in North Africa

Abstract

Political actors across the globe often use the language of democracy, butthey do not all use the same language. Drawing on content analysis of 1,935speeches given between 2000 and 2010, this study examines how five NorthAfrican autocrats appropriated the global discursive form of democracy byaltering its content. These leaders proposed that the special circumstancesof each country preclude any one-size-fits-all global definition ofdemocracy, whose imposition in their countries, they claim, would beinappropriate, ineffective, or dangerous. Through their speeches, theserulers redefined democracy by engaging in active ideological work, weavingtogether discourses that combined global norms, state interests, and localvalues. This suggests that, in addition to being a benchmark by which tomeasure modes of governance, “democracy” is also a language game playedbetween actors on a global stage. By synthesizing theoretical frameworksdrawn from world polity and social movement studies traditions, this studyshows that peripheral actors may adapt global discourses purposefully andstrategically rather than encountering them as passive participants in apurely mimetic cultural diffusion process. This has implications for a widerange of global norms that are open to appropriation by local actorsdrawing on domestic and external political developments and experiences.

Who Doesn’t Want Democracy? A Multilevel Analysis of Elite and Mass Attitudes

“…Today, even antidemocracy movements claim to embrace democracy. Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butefliqa, for example, labeled his autocratic regime “an authentic democratic experiment” and “a pioneer of democracy in our region that so desperately needs it” (Gorman 2016). Movements such as Islamic parties that reject global rationales for democracy as Eurocentric often embrace democracy on alternative grounds that they consider more authentic (Gorman 201; Kurzman and Naqvi 2010).…”