In 2010 the jasmine revolution led to the dismissal of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who as a dictator in Tunisia. He led Tunisia with a power from 1987. After the Jasmine revolution, Tunisia has been making good progress on its journey toward a democratic nation. The revolution was peacefully undertaken by the civil society and a strong trade union known as the Tunisian General Labor Union. The revolution has resulted in another uprising across North Africa and Middle East areas. Tunisia is known to be the smallest country in the region with only 11 million people. The revolution was effective and did not result in authoritarianism like other nations such as Libya, Yemen, and Syria. The success of the transition in Tunisia is a mode that will be used by many nations as well as has managed to discredit the long terms existing allegory that the Arab world cannot make a democratic nation. The revolution in Tunisia was unique in a way that despite the riots that occurred, very few people imagined that the citizens of the country will manage to do away with the dictator and his government as well as have the ability to defeat the powerful security personnel.
The government of Ben Ali has been able to keep itself across the sheer repression and the strong security managed to put down all types of protests despite how gentle and peaceful it appeared to be. Legitimacy was acquired by the government through conducting normal elections that brought success to the president with over 90% of the total votes. Additionally, his part usually won and acquired all seats in the legislature. When Ben Ali assumed power he made sure that the constitution was changed so as to inflict limitations on the power and authority of the president. However, he made sure that the limitations are removed so as to stay in power for long. During his re-run for elections, he did not face any opposition as other candidates were either harassed or disqualified. Studies have always called that election authoritarianism in elections.
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"Democratization Process Success in Tunisia".
The government was favored by financial institutions internationally such as the international monetary fund which perceived Tunisia as a perfect model. The recommendations provided by the institutions were followed by the government. The issue was that the economy was not resourceful and its operations were influenced by corruption. Therefore, there were no jobs for the youths who held a large percentage of the population in the country. The economy was privatized and only the family members of Ben Ali were the beneficiaries as well as managed most parts of the economy. Legitimate democratic changes were opposed by the government under the assumption that it would not help the economy to grow. There was an increased rate of unemployment and there we big differences between the littoral regions and the northern urban. These areas were dominated by different sectors such as tourism, industrial and agriculture.
Unplanned riots occurred in Tunisia and were not directed by any political party or any ideological movement. The protesters were many and the government could not manage them. The protesters demanded the end of the regime which forced the president to run away to Saudi Arabia in 2011. After the incident, the country was secured by the military and vowed not to interfere with the political process (Aleya-Sghaier, 2012). Pressure from the society made it possible for the country to turn to a full established democratic country. Ben’s political party was dissolved and political reform committee which consisted of 155 members was formed. According to Aleya-Sghaier (2012), the process of transition was observed by the armed forces in Tunisia who vowed not to interfere with the process but rather keep it safe and make sure that the forces are not changed in order to go back to the old government of dictatorship. The first stage of the transition was to revise the constitution and handle the power inequalities which had benefited the president for many decades. An independent electoral commission was formed.
In the democratic process, the Islamist Ennahda party was formed which had been banned for decades by Ben’s government. Additionally, new political parties were formed Ennahda party won the first election of the constituent assembly and failed to get the absolute majority. The elections held in 2011 were free, fair and transparent which was the opposite of most elections that were conducted in the Arab world as well as Africa. The legislative election that was held in 2014 was a clear confirmation that the democratic process of Tunisia was still in place. There were no major occasions and defeat of the former party with a new winner was a surprise (Aleya-Sghaier, 2012).
Democracy includes a strong civil society, respect for people’s rights and separation of powers. The framework proposed by Huntington argues that democratization can be attained if there is the existence of an approach among the four proposed approaches. According to the modernization approach, there are a number of factors that result in democratization in the society. The factors include freedom of thought, high rate of literacy among people, urbanization, and advancement in technology. Serious problems identified by this approach are the issues of discrimination on the basis of religion. The presence of high level of inequality among different social groups increased the possibility for democratization.
Another approach that can be used to explain the democratization process includes mass mobilization. This approach argues that most of the society believes that it is a must for democracy to exist and the values related to democratization should be integrated into the society through revolutions, civil resistance, and the uprisings. Studies have shown that civil society and middle class tend to play an important role in organizing and inspiring large groups of people against a dictatorship government. This model perfectly fits the revolution process in Tunisia and integration of the democracy. The civil society came together to resist the dictatorship with any support of the political parties as well as military power. This shows that the voice of the civil society has an important role in claiming a justice and fair society across the nation (Aleya-Sghaier, 2012).
A number of factors contributed to the success of democratization process in Tunisia. First, institutional donation especially the military in Tunisia played an important role in the democratization process. Tunisia has a small military group that is highly professional and little experience in political participation. Therefore, the military in Tunisia has developed with the perception that the power of the civilians is supreme. The prestige and self-significance of the military are Tunisia was developed by the fact that it did not take part in the regional wars in other Arab states. The operations, as well as the resources of the military, were restrained by former presidents in the country which adopted then to limit functioning. This is why the Tunisian military vowed early enough that it would submit to the commands of the civilians not interfere with the political process. The only role played by the military was to make sure that the dictatorship government did not reverse the power and return its governance (Aleya-Sghaier, 2012).
The civil society also played an important role in the success of the democratization process in Tunisia. Civil society played a regulator responsibility by making sure that the performance of government was watched and put the regime under stress when it went against the democratic agreements. Additionally, the civil society promoted the talk between the political divisions when the there were arguments and miscommunication in the government of Tunisia (Aleya-Sghaier, 2012).
The watchdog function of the civil society in Tunisia is evident through bringing the constitution closer. This was attained by the feminist as well as liberal society encouraged many people to make protests in the streets of the capital city of Tunisia. Additionally, national talks to unite all parties and have them to talk about their issues were held by the national trade union movement. The norms, ideas, and preferences of leadership are other major roles played in the success of the democratization process (Aleya-Sghaier, 2012).
Tunisia had a normative dedication to the democratic institution. Both the political elite and Islamist were dedicated to forming a democratic institution in the country which could include free and fair elections, people to have the freedom of speech, associate freely. The declarations and conduct showed that the groups were committed to do away with the authoritarian and follow a democratic way. Rachid made an initiative to reach not to the nation-Islamist and pressed them to compromise issues including the gender inequality.
Luck is another factor that resulted in the success of the democratization process. During the elections in Tunisia people were confused among different political parties who were competing. However, out of luck, the Ennahda party managed to secure a large number of the seats even though a large percentage of the Tunisia society is not dedicated Islamists. A large number of the voters could possibly protest the vote. The party leader benefited as there was a good image of the party. Luck played an important role in the success of the democratization process as everything perfectly feels into place. Timing is also another important factor. Tunisia had an important role in correcting the liberal constitution few months after the Egyptian military suppressed the opposition. Finally, international aspects such as the World Bank and the European Union as well as the United States had great influence over Tunisia. The international forces play an important role in resource allocation.
The victory of the civil society in Tunisia concerning the efforts to undergo democratic change is a lesson to other countries who are striving for political transformation. The experience of Tunisia offers significant insights concerning the ability of the civil society to encourage the transition of democracy and balance of power in the political sector. Additionally, the involvements of the civil society do not only include the nongovernmental organizations but could be formal institutions such as the trade union and associations. The story of Tunisia has helped many countries to recognize the value and importance of civil societies. A number of factors should act as a lesson as well as major drivers that led to the success of democratization in Tunisia.
Priority should be given to the non-governmental stakeholders despite how small they may appear to be. The civil society took important measure to bring about change in the society. Another factor is that a constitution should be drafted and executed before any elections are held. Tunisia made a decision to pay attention to making a new constitution and no official leaders were elected until the final copy of the constitution was released. This helped in minimizing the amount of political competition as well as increased the focus on the process of change.
The process of democratization should be led from the internal environment and receive support from the outside and not vice versa. Another important factor is that the political connection between the government and the civil society should be strengthened. The political participation of the nontraditional actors should be improved as well. Civil society should be engaged in the process of political change as their voice is stronger and they tend to have control. Tunisia has served as the major role model in democratization across the region and other countries should apply the strategies used.
- Aleya-Sghaier, A. (2012). The Tunisian Revolution: The Revolution of Dignity. The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 3(1), 18-45.
