Los partidos políticos como factores de cambio político en el norte de África y Oriente Próximo

Abstract

The characteristics of the party systems have major effects on the functioning of political systems and the persistence or change of political regimes. However,little attention has been paid to studies of party systems, and party systems of pluralist authoritarianisms have either not been considered or have been reduced to a hegemonic party system category. Even the utility of political parties in the MENA region has been questioned by specialists in the field. Despite the differences in the party phenomenon in each geographical area, its analysis is relevant in both democracies and pluralistic authoritarian regimes with a certain degree of political competition, like most of the party systems in the MENA countries. Therefore, the main objective of this PhD research is to analyze the transformation of party systems and the nature of inter-party relations in MENA political regimes in the period following the Arab Spring, as well as their impact on authoritarian resilience or, conversely, the promotion of opportunities for political contestation and democratic opposition movements. In particular, this research aims: (1)Establishing theoretical and methodological criteria to provide a general and multidimensional typology of party systems applicable in both democratic and pluralistic authoritarian regimes; (2) Characterizing MENA party systems to determine the extent to which the type of political regime influences the dimensions of the party system; (3) Analyzing the structural conditions used to explain authoritarianism and exploring how party systems and political parties contribute to authoritarian resilience; (4) Studying how different cleavages in the party system interact, influencing inter-party relations and creating spaces for political contestation based on cross-ideological alliances and anti-authoritarian claims. The theoretical-methodological framework is based on mixed methods which combine in-depth knowledge of the geographical area with methodologies of Comparative Politics. The selected case studies correspond to multiparty systems with parliamentary representation in the MENA region: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, and Turkey. The key findings indicate that certain elements closely linked to the party system, such as the restriction of party competition, political fragmentation, and the division of political parties, limit the functions of political parties and affect inter-party relations, and therefore, limiting the parties' ability to bring about democratic changes. Party systems and political parties interact in a complex manner with other factors resulting in paths that lead to authoritarian resilience in MENA countries. The findings also remark that the loss of relevance of traditional cleavages in the context of the post-industrial revolution fostered the emergence of new categories of divisions around materialistic and post-materialistic values. In this context, political orientation becomes a driver for grassroots mobilization, promoting the construction of stable inter-ideological coalitions and creating common frames for contestation and democratic opposition.