موانع عدم پيشبرد دموكراسي سازي در شيخ نشينهاي خليج فارس

Obstacles to Democratic Promotion in the Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms

profound and incremental process whose procession would lead to the institutionalization of participation and party, group and associational competition, whereas liberalization is not identical with democratization referring to citizensʹ basic freedoms and political rights as well as fairly free elections. Interconnection of patrimonial structure of power, tribal social fabric, rentier economy and subsequently weak civil institutions and modernist secular and religious currents all played a part in the perpetuation of authoritarianism in the Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms. They have hindered the elevation of limited recent liberalizations to the level of democratization. In this paper, the author seeks to examine political, cultural and economic origins of the obstacles to democratic promotion in the region.