Searching for the Mechanism of Arab Monarchies' Resilience Using Case Studies of Morocco and Jordan

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H07191
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Politics
• Research Institution: Sophia University
• Principal Investigator: SHIRATANI Nozomi 上智大学, グローバル・スタディーズ研究科, 研究員 (40780119)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-08-26 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: モロッコ / ヨルダン / 君主制 / 議会 / 政党 / 選挙 / イスラーム主義

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this research was clarifying the mechanism of Arab monarchies’ resilience from the case studies of Morocco and Jordan, a resilience that was verified by the aftermath of the “Arab Spring” wave, focusing on party politics and the electoral systems.
In my previous research, I suggested that Moroccan party politics since 1990s might be better understood as a new strategy by the king, “the rotation of the ruling parties and the opposition,” under the name of nominal democracy.
I tried to refine this model applying the case study of Jordan. However, it became clear that the factors that make the rotation possible in Morocco do not hold in Jordanian case. Therefore, I tried to focus on principal political actor in both cases, the Islamists, to clarify their relationship with the regime and their manner in formal/informal political fields.

Free Research Field

中東・北アフリカ地域研究、比較政治学