Download Middle East Monarchies

Middle East Monarchies
Two brief cases in the
nature and strategies
of autocratic rule
Case Study: Qatar
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Nature of the Regime:
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Emirate absolute monarch from al-Thani clan
No political parties or organized opposition
Strategy #1: keep citizens happy
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Free education, health care for citizens at all levels.
Average pp annual income: $20,000
Helpful factors: tiny population, lots of oil
• Population: about 863,000, but only about 20% are Qatari
citizens
• 90% of work force foreign
• 10% of world’s proven oil reserves
Qatari Emirate
Emir
Sheikh Hamad bin
Khalifa al-Thani
Municipal Council
elected, universal suffrage
29 members
Al-Thani
Family
Al-Shoura
Consultative Council
45 members
Elected & appointed
Qatar, cont.
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Strategy #2: Allow some
outlets for expression
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Relative freedom of
speech and expression
Elected 29-person
municipal advisory council
(currently includes one
 Strategy #3: defend
woman)
“tradition”
2003 Constitution
 Maintain social order
• Guarantees of civil rights
 Wahabbi Islam
Home of al-Jazeera TV
 Women: suffrage, but
(private but funded by
strong social codes limit
Qatari govt)
public participation and
work
New Qatari Constitution: some
excerpts
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Article 8 The rule of the State is hereditary in the family of Al Thani and in the line of the male descendants of Hamad
Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad Bin Abdullah Bin Jassim. The rule shall be inherited by the son named as Heir Apparent by the
Emir. In the case that there is no such son, the prerogatives of rule shall pass to the member of the family named by
the Emir as Heir Apparent. In this case, his male descendants shall inherit the rule.
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Article 67 The Emir shall discharge the following functions:1. Drawing up the general policy of the State with the
assistance of the Council of Ministers;2. Ratification and promulgation of laws; and no such law may be issued unless it
is ratified by the Emir;3. Summoning the Council of Ministers to convene at any time deemed necessary for public
interest; and the Emir shall preside over the meetings of the Council of Ministers that he attends;4. Appointment of civil
servants and military personnel and terminating their service in accordance with the law;5. Accrediting diplomatic and
consular missions;6. Granting pardon or commuting penalty in accordance with the law;7. Conferring civilian and
military orders and badges of honour in accordance with the law;8. Establishment and organization of ministries and
other Government bodies and specifying their functions;9. Establishment and organization of such consultative bodies
to assist him in directing, supervising, and specifying the functions of the high policies of the State;10. Any other
functions vested upon him by this Constitution or the law.
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Article 76- Al-Shoura Council shall assume the legislative authority, approve the general policy of the Government, the
budget, and it shall exercise control over the executive authority as specified in this Constitution.
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Article 77 Al-Shoura Council shall consist of forty-five Members thirty of whom shall be elected by direct, general
secret ballot; and the Emir shall appoint the remaining fifteen Members from amongst the Ministers or any other
persons. The term of service of the appointed Members in Al-Shoura Council shall expire when these Members resign
their seats or are relieved from their posts.
Case Study: Jordan
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Created by British out of “Palestine
Mandate”
Constitutional monarchy
Democratization: forward and back
since 1989
Resource poor
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Map: Human Rights Watch
Average pp annual income $1,800
Population
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About 5.7 million people (most have
citizenship)
70-80% urban
Social cleavages: “Transjordanians” vs
“Palestinians”
1.5 million officially displaced Palestinians
A vendor in Amann. Photo
taken by tourist Jordan
Klein.
Jordan: Structure of the Regime
King (Abdullah II)
Can dissolve Parliament
Rule by decree
Appoint PM
Approve Legislation
Parliament
40-person Senate (appointed)
80-person chamber of deputies
(universal suffrage)
Hashemite
Family
Prime Minister &
Council of Ministers
(appointed by king)
Ruling in Jordan: strategies
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Strategy #1: make &
maintain key
alliances
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Transjordanians
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• Indigenous to East
Bank
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Bedouin Tribes/Army
PLO
Strategy #2: suppress
dissent
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Suspensions of Parliament
“Temporary laws”
State Security Courts
No politics in mosques,
educational inst’s., clubs
Strategy #3: Invent
tradition
Theories on Authoritarianism:
the Rentier State
Rentier State:
a state that receives substantial
income (“rents”) from foreign
sources, and where only a few
people are engaged in the
generation of this wealth.
ME “Rentier” states, with % of
government revenue or GDP from oil or nat. gas
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Saudi Arabia: 70-80% govt
revenue; 40% GDP
Kuwait: 40% GDP
UAE: 30% GDP
Qatar: 60% govt. revenue
Iraq
Iran: 40-50% govt revenue
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Oman: 40% GDP
Libya: 70% govt.
revenue
Why might rentier states be less
democratic than others?
No taxation, so fewer calls for
representation
 More $ at state’s disposal to put into
internal security
 Economic growth not accompanied by
social impacts of conventional
industrialization
 State as patron
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