Studies of the Middle East and North Africa have very often relied on qualitative methodologies t... more Studies of the Middle East and North Africa have very often relied on qualitative methodologies to understand and explain the politics of the region. In fact it could be argued that Middle East specialists have tended to shy away purposefully from engaging with quantitative methods because of the perceived ‘exceptionalism’ of the region in terms of the gathering and reliability of hard data. This article makes the case for increasing engagement with quantitative methodologies in order for studies on the Middle East to better 'speak' to comparative politics more broadly. Far from downplaying the significance and contribution of qualitative methods, this article encourages scholars to integrate them with quantitative methods that have been more recently developed to provide a fuller picture of politics in the region.
This article analyzes the performance of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) in Moro... more This article analyzes the performance of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) in Moroccan local politics from 2003 to 2009, using a variety of data sources including interviews, municipal budgets, and audit reports. We find that the PJD’s campaign and candidates were significantly different from Moroccan political norms. The outcomes of audits and budget patterns show governance in towns where the PJD was elected differed only in those where the party had high electoral support in 2003, allowing it to govern with a small coalition
This article examines how authoritarian elites manage the quest for political participation of mo... more This article examines how authoritarian elites manage the quest for political participation of moderate Islamist groups in view of securing regime persistence. Through a comparative analysis of the logics of two cases—the Moroccan Movement of Unity and Reform (MUR) and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood—it aims to understand the key factors accounting for differences in form and evolution of the respective containment strategies. The MUR was formally included into parliament and electoral processes. In contrast, the Muslim Brotherhood remains illegal, was tolerated on an informal basis only and subject to a repressive backlash in the 1990s. Therefore, whereas both regimes have yielded to the movements' demands for political participation, the mechanisms (formal vs. informal) and the developments (protracted vs. reversed) show marked differences. Starting from the assumption that the chosen mechanisms result from the rulers' risks perception, the comparison shows that the rulers' choices are predominantly shaped by the institutional setting of the respective authoritarian systems (monarchic vs. presidential) and influenced by the strength of an Islamist organisation relative to other opposition forces. As to the different developments, it is argued that continuity or the reversal of an inclusivist experiment is the result of the ruler's assessment of the success of the experiment. Inclusion is continued if it contributes to regime stability through the Islamists' compliance with the rules of the game or, at least, if it does not impact negatively on the latter. If, instead, the Islamist challenge increases over time, inclusion is abandoned and replaced by a largely repressive containment strategy.
This contribution studies the different preferences of Moroccan Islamists and leftists for cooper... more This contribution studies the different preferences of Moroccan Islamists and leftists for cooperating with each other. The Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD) has been actively seeking an alliance with the leftist Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) since 2007. The USFP's national leadership has avoided any form of cooperation with the Islamists at the national level, but had to tolerate government coalitions at the local level. We find that the most important driver behind the USFP's reluctance to ally with the Islamists is its co-optation. The asymmetry in electoral strength and differences in the type of electoral support the two parties enjoy also appear to be important reasons behind the different party preferences. For the PJD, its superior electoral support and the higher degree of programmatic support it enjoys suggest that it expects to be successful in democratic elections, while the opposite seems to be the case for the USFP. Ideology, by contrast, was found to be of little importance in determining the positions of the national PJD or USFP leadership towards cross-party cooperation. The analysis is based on original field research conducted in Morocco and on data from the World Values Survey.
This article studies if and under which circumstances Western support to regimes in the Middle Ea... more This article studies if and under which circumstances Western support to regimes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is contingent on concerns for political and civil rights. Using foreign aid as a proxy for support, we compare the role of political and civil rights with the role of different geopolitical and economic factors for aid allocation. We analyse
Studies of the Middle East and North Africa have very often relied on qualitative methodologies t... more Studies of the Middle East and North Africa have very often relied on qualitative methodologies to understand and explain the politics of the region. In fact it could be argued that Middle East specialists have tended to shy away purposefully from engaging with quantitative methods because of the perceived ‘exceptionalism’ of the region in terms of the gathering and reliability of hard data. This article makes the case for increasing engagement with quantitative methodologies in order for studies on the Middle East to better 'speak' to comparative politics more broadly. Far from downplaying the significance and contribution of qualitative methods, this article encourages scholars to integrate them with quantitative methods that have been more recently developed to provide a fuller picture of politics in the region.
This article analyzes the performance of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) in Moro... more This article analyzes the performance of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) in Moroccan local politics from 2003 to 2009, using a variety of data sources including interviews, municipal budgets, and audit reports. We find that the PJD’s campaign and candidates were significantly different from Moroccan political norms. The outcomes of audits and budget patterns show governance in towns where the PJD was elected differed only in those where the party had high electoral support in 2003, allowing it to govern with a small coalition
This article examines how authoritarian elites manage the quest for political participation of mo... more This article examines how authoritarian elites manage the quest for political participation of moderate Islamist groups in view of securing regime persistence. Through a comparative analysis of the logics of two cases—the Moroccan Movement of Unity and Reform (MUR) and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood—it aims to understand the key factors accounting for differences in form and evolution of the respective containment strategies. The MUR was formally included into parliament and electoral processes. In contrast, the Muslim Brotherhood remains illegal, was tolerated on an informal basis only and subject to a repressive backlash in the 1990s. Therefore, whereas both regimes have yielded to the movements' demands for political participation, the mechanisms (formal vs. informal) and the developments (protracted vs. reversed) show marked differences. Starting from the assumption that the chosen mechanisms result from the rulers' risks perception, the comparison shows that the rulers' choices are predominantly shaped by the institutional setting of the respective authoritarian systems (monarchic vs. presidential) and influenced by the strength of an Islamist organisation relative to other opposition forces. As to the different developments, it is argued that continuity or the reversal of an inclusivist experiment is the result of the ruler's assessment of the success of the experiment. Inclusion is continued if it contributes to regime stability through the Islamists' compliance with the rules of the game or, at least, if it does not impact negatively on the latter. If, instead, the Islamist challenge increases over time, inclusion is abandoned and replaced by a largely repressive containment strategy.
This contribution studies the different preferences of Moroccan Islamists and leftists for cooper... more This contribution studies the different preferences of Moroccan Islamists and leftists for cooperating with each other. The Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD) has been actively seeking an alliance with the leftist Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) since 2007. The USFP's national leadership has avoided any form of cooperation with the Islamists at the national level, but had to tolerate government coalitions at the local level. We find that the most important driver behind the USFP's reluctance to ally with the Islamists is its co-optation. The asymmetry in electoral strength and differences in the type of electoral support the two parties enjoy also appear to be important reasons behind the different party preferences. For the PJD, its superior electoral support and the higher degree of programmatic support it enjoys suggest that it expects to be successful in democratic elections, while the opposite seems to be the case for the USFP. Ideology, by contrast, was found to be of little importance in determining the positions of the national PJD or USFP leadership towards cross-party cooperation. The analysis is based on original field research conducted in Morocco and on data from the World Values Survey.
This article studies if and under which circumstances Western support to regimes in the Middle Ea... more This article studies if and under which circumstances Western support to regimes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is contingent on concerns for political and civil rights. Using foreign aid as a proxy for support, we compare the role of political and civil rights with the role of different geopolitical and economic factors for aid allocation. We analyse
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Papers by Eva Wegner