Local Politics In Jordan And Morocco

Author : Janine A. Clark
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231545010
Total Pages : 402 pages
Book Rating : 4.13/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Local Politics in Jordan and Morocco written by Janine A. Clark and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, authoritarian states in the Middle East and North Africa have faced increasing international pressure to decentralize political power. Decentralization is presented as a panacea that will foster good governance and civil society, helping citizens procure basic services and fight corruption. Two of these states, Jordan and Morocco, are monarchies with elected parliaments and recent experiences of liberalization. Morocco began devolving certain responsibilities to municipal councils decades ago, while Jordan has consistently followed a path of greater centralization. Their experiences test such assumptions about the benefits of localism. Janine A. Clark examines why Morocco decentralized while Jordan did not and evaluates the impact of their divergent paths, ultimately explaining how authoritarian regimes can use decentralization reforms to consolidate power. Local Politics in Jordan and Morocco argues that decentralization is a tactic authoritarian regimes employ based on their coalition strategies to expand their base of support and strengthen patron-client ties. Clark analyzes the opportunities that decentralization presents to local actors to pursue their interests and lays out how municipal-level figures find ways to use reforms to their advantage. In Morocco, decentralization has resulted not in greater political inclusivity or improved services, but rather in the entrenchment of pro-regime elites in power. The main Islamist political party has also taken advantage of these reforms. In Jordan, decentralization would undermine the networks that benefit elites and their supporters. Based on extensive fieldwork, Local Politics in Jordan and Morocco is an important contribution to Middle East studies and political science that challenges our understanding of authoritarian regimes’ survival strategies and resilience.

Author : Dörthe Engelcke
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 110849661X
Total Pages : 287 pages
Book Rating : 4.12/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Reforming Family Law written by Dörthe Engelcke and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-07 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Implementation of Islamic family law varies widely across North Africa and the Middle East, here Dörthe Engelcke explores the reasons for this.

Author : Curtis R. Ryan
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231546564
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Jordan and the Arab Uprisings written by Curtis R. Ryan and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-26 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2011, as the Arab uprisings spread across the Middle East, Jordan remained more stable than any of its neighbors. Despite strife at its borders and an influx of refugees connected to the Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIS, as well as its own version of the Arab Spring with protests and popular mobilization demanding change, Jordan managed to avoid political upheaval. How did the regime survive in the face of the pressures unleashed by the Arab uprisings? What does its resilience tell us about the prospects for reform or revolutionary change? In Jordan and the Arab Uprisings, Curtis R. Ryan explains how Jordan weathered the turmoil of the Arab Spring. Crossing divides between state and society, government and opposition, Ryan analyzes key features of Jordanian politics, including Islamist and leftist opposition parties, youth movements, and other forms of activism, as well as struggles over elections, reform, and identity. He details regime survival strategies, laying out how the monarchy has held out the possibility of reform while also seeking to coopt and contain its opponents. Ryan demonstrates how domestic politics were affected by both regional unrest and international support for the regime, and how regime survival and security concerns trumped hopes for greater change. While the Arab Spring may be over, Ryan shows that political activism in Jordan is not, and that struggles for reform and change will continue. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with a vast range of people, from grassroots activists to King Abdullah II, Jordan and the Arab Uprisings is a definitive analysis of Jordanian politics before, during, and beyond the Arab uprisings.

Author : Lise Storm
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134067380
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.81/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Democratization in Morocco written by Lise Storm and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-10-29 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the political games of the Moroccan democratization process in the period from independence in 1956 until 2006. The purpose of the book is not only to analyze the strategies and actions of the various political actors, but also to evaluate the level of democracy present in the country after the adoption of new constitutions in 1962, 1970, 1972, 1980, 1992 and 1996.

Author : Myriam Ababsa
Publisher : Presses de l’Ifpo
ISBN 13 : 235159438X
Total Pages : 485 pages
Book Rating : 4.84/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Atlas of Jordan written by Myriam Ababsa and published by Presses de l’Ifpo. This book was released on 2014-06-11 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This atlas aims to provide the reader with key pointers for a spatial analysis of the social, economic and political dynamics at work in Jordan, an exemplary country of the Middle East complexities. Being a product of seven years of scientific cooperation between Ifpo, the Royal Jordanian Geographic Center and the University of Jordan, it includes the contributions of 48 European, Jordanian and International researchers. A long historical part followed by sections on demography, economy, social disparities, urban challenges and major town and country planning, sheds light on the formation of Jordanian territories over time. Jordan has always been looked on as an exception in the Middle East due to the political stability that has prevailed since the country’s Independence in 1946, despite the challenge of integrating several waves of Palestinian, Iraqi and - more recently - Syrian refugees. Thanks to this stability and the peace accord signed with Israel in 1994, Jordan is one of the first countries in the world for development aid per capita.

Author : Robert P. Beschel
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 0815736983
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.81/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Public Sector Reform in the Middle East and North Africa written by Robert P. Beschel and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical examinations of efforts to make governments more efficient and responsive Political upheavals and civil wars in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have obscured efforts by many countries in the region to reform their public sectors. Unwieldy, unresponsive—and often corrupt—governments across the region have faced new pressure, not least from their publics, to improve the quality of public services and open up their decisionmaking processes. Some of these reform efforts were under way and at least partly successful before the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2010. Reform efforts have continued in some countries despite the many upheavals since then. This book offers a comprehensive assessment of a wide range of reform efforts in nine countries. In six cases the reforms targeted core systems of government: Jordan's restructuring of cabinet operations, the Palestinian Authority's revision of public financial management, Morocco's voluntary retirement program, human resource management reforms in Lebanon, an e-governance initiative in Dubai, and attempts to improve transparency in Tunisia. Five other reform efforts tackled line departments of government, among them Egypt's attempt to improve tax collection and Saudi Arabia's work to improve service delivery and bill collection. Some of these reform efforts were more successful than others. This book examines both the good and the bad, looking not only at what each reform accomplished but at how it was implemented. The result is a series of useful lessons on how public sector reforms can be adopted in MENA.

Author : Oecd
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9789264521254
Total Pages : 98 pages
Book Rating : 4.59/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Engaging Citizens in Jordan's Local Government Needs Assessment Process written by Oecd and published by . This book was released on 2021-01-26 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jordan is undertaking ambitious decentralization reforms to place citizens at the heart of local policies and services. This review analyses the main gaps in the current needs assessment process, which aims to mainstream a participatory approach for the design of local development plans and budgetary allocations through a yearly collection and assessment of citizens' needs. It provides actionable recommendations to strengthen the governance of this process, foster two-way communication and promote stakeholder participation at all stages of the policymaking cycle. The report accompanies the document "Supporting Open Government at the Local Level in Jordan" that aims to equip subnational public officials with the relevant knowledge and skills to mainstream transparency, integrity, accountability, and stakeholder participation into the functioning and machinery of local administrations.

Author : Ina Kubbe
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000760618
Total Pages : 211 pages
Book Rating : 4.13/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Corruption and Informal Practices in the Middle East and North Africa written by Ina Kubbe and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-28 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the pervasive problem of corruption across the Middle East and North Africa. Drawing on the specifics of the local context, the book explores how corruption in the region is actuated through informal practices that coexist and work in parallel to formal institutions. When informal practices become vehicles for corruption, they can have negative ripple effects across many aspects of society, but on the other hand, informal practices could also have the potential to be leveraged to reinforce formal institutions to help fight corruption. Drawing on a range of cases including Morocco, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia or Israel the book first explores the mechanisms and dynamics of corruption and informal practices in the region, before looking at the successes and failures of anti-corruption initiatives. The final section focuses on gender perspectives on corruption, which are often overlooked in corruption literature, and the role of women in the Middle East. With insights drawn from a range of disciplines, this book will be of interest to researchers and students across political science, philosophy, socio-legal studies, public administration, and Middle Eastern studies, as well as to policy makers and practitioners working in the region.

Author : Brian F. Schaffner
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108659888
Total Pages : 277 pages
Book Rating : 4.88/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hometown Inequality written by Brian F. Schaffner and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-09 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Local governments play a central role in American democracy, providing essential services such as policing, water, and sanitation. Moreover, Americans express great confidence in their municipal governments. But is this confidence warranted? Using big data and a representative sample of American communities, this book provides the first systematic examination of racial and class inequalities in local politics. We find that non-whites and less-affluent residents are consistent losers in local democracy. Residents of color and those with lower incomes receive less representation from local elected officials than do whites and the affluent. Additionally, they are much less likely than privileged community members to have their preferences reflected in local government policy. Contrary to the popular assumption that governments that are “closest” govern best, we find that inequalities in representation are most severe in suburbs and small towns. Typical reforms do not seem to improve the situation, and we recommend new approaches.

Author : Janine A. Clark
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190882999
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Political Science Research in the Middle East and North Africa written by Janine A. Clark and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-20 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In conducting political science research today, one's methodology is of paramount concern. Yet, despite the obvious chasm between theory and practice that all scholars experience in the field, there are no specific guidebooks on meeting the methodological and ethical challenges that fieldwork presents. Political Science Research in the Middle East and North Africa helps fill this vacuum, focusing specifically on doing research in the one of the most important regions in contemporary world politics. Janine A. Clark and Francesco Cavatorta have gathered together a large and diverse group of researchers who study the region and focus on methodological "lessons learned" from their first hand experiences of employing a variety of research methods while conducting fieldwork. The contributors also look at the challenges of conducting field research in a variety of contexts, such as in areas of violence, and using research methods such as interviewing and ethnography. This volume will therefore be an invaluable companion book to more standard methods books and a useful tool, not just for Middle East scholars, but for all researchers conducting research in complex settings.