The international context of Morocco's stalled democratization

More than Repression: The Significance ofDivide et Imperain the Middle East and North Africa –The Case of Morocco

“…In fact, it can be argued that Morocco's democratisation has stalled since the late 1990s (Cavatorta 2005). During this time, coercion and brutal repression have, however, not been the primary reason for the endurance of the incumbent and the new king seems to have mastered the art of co-optation and 'divide and rule'.…”

Rethinking Islamist politics in North Africa: a multi-level analysis of domestic, regional and international dynamics

“…For a variety of reasons, comparative politics has tended to screen out international factors from the political, institutional and legal reform processes at the national and subnational levels, whereas international relations scholars concentrated on phenomena beyond state borders (Magen & Morlino, 2009). Since the end of the Cold War, growing attention has been placed on the linkage between internal dynamics and international (and regional) factors, especially in terms of democratisation prospects and regime change (Pridham, 1991;Schmitz & Sell, 1999;Whitehead, 2001) or in order to explain the evolution of authoritarian polities wherever democracy failed to take roots as in the Arab world (Ambrosio, 2010;Brownlee, 2012;Cavatorta, 2005Cavatorta, , 2009Heydemann, 2007). Other strands of literature connected to policy-making and social movements theories are devoted to isolating the forms, contents and mechanisms for the diffusion and coevolution of either policies and collective action from one set of actors to another, and more importantly, beyond national borders (Della Porta & Tarrow, 2012;McAdam, 1983;Oliver & Myers, 2003;Weyland, 2005).…”

The Dilemma of the Islamists: Human Rights, Democratization and the War on Terror

“…Finally, there is a desire to guarantee that the political leadership in Morocco remains stable and that there is not an Islamic revolution or the peaceful takeover of power by the country's radical Islamists, particularly Al-Adl wal-Ihsan. 42 In theory, the fact that democratization in MENA has slowed, if not come to a halt, is not a paramount problem. The region has been overwhelmingly authoritarian for such a long time; what do a few more decades matter?…”