Authoritarianism and Contentious Politics in the Middle East

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

A decade and a half ago, social scientists embarked on a research agenda to explain the emergence, success, and failure of a series of epoch-defining mass mobilizations in the Middle East and North Africa. Today, scholars are tasked with explaining how contentious politics in the region continues to shape the relationship between state and society as well as the composition and function of authoritarian institutions. Drawing on a variety of methods and cases from across the region, the panel explores the nuances of authoritarian governance, legislative responsiveness, changing citizen attitudes, external influences, and responses to internal challenges. These perspectives coalesce to contribute timely question at the intersection of contentious politics and authoritarian regimes -- how to better account for the outcomes of contentious politics in the absence of regime change.

Sub Unit

• Division 57: Middle East and North African Politics

Individual Presentations

• Authoritarian Legislatures and Anti-regime Mobilization: Evidence from Algeria - Jérémie Langlois, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Marwa Shalaby, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• The Impacts of Foreign Informational Interventions on Citizen Attitudes in MENA - Sarah Mohamed, Harvard University

• Lies, Deceit, and Disinformation: Vulnerabilities to Authoritarian Power Grabs - Cagil Albayrak, University of Kansas

• Clean and Green: The Politics of Spectacle at Dubai’s COP28 - Lauren Marie Baker, Northwestern University

Discussant

• Masoud Kazemzadeh Sam Houston State University