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Liberalizing Autocracies in the Gulf Region? Reform Strategies in the Face of a Cultural-Economic Syndrome

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  • Weiffen, Brigitte

Abstract

Summary From an international comparative perspective, the stability of autocratic regimes in the countries of the Gulf region is striking. This paper presents historical-cultural as well as economic explanations and proposes that the interaction of both factors constitutes a cultural-economic syndrome accounting for the persistence of authoritarianism. Macro-quantitative analyses demonstrate the significant influence of this syndrome, which operates through a mechanism of mutual reinforcement and substitution. Departing from this diagnosis, potential remedies are discussed: political and economic reform measures pursued in the 1990s are explored, and the Gulf monarchies are classified according to four ideal-typical combinations of reform strategies.

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  • Weiffen, Brigitte, 2008. "Liberalizing Autocracies in the Gulf Region? Reform Strategies in the Face of a Cultural-Economic Syndrome," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2586-2604, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:36:y:2008:i:12:p:2586-2604
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    4. Dalila Chenaf-Nicet, 2020. "Dynamics of Structural Change in a Globalized World: What Is the Role Played by Institutions in the Case of Sub-Saharan African Countries?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(4), pages 998-1037, September.
    5. Doris Hanzl-Weiss & Michael Landesmann & Isilda Mara & Arno Tausch & Jan Toporowski, 2013. "Monthly Report No. 8-9/2013," wiiw Monthly Reports 2013-08-09, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    6. François Facchini & Louis Jaeck & Chafik Bouhaddioui, 2021. "Culture and Entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(3), pages 1245-1269, September.
    7. Doris Hanzl-Weiss & Michael Landesmann & Kateryna Markevych & Sandor Richter & Vasyl Yurchyshyn, 2013. "Monthly Report No. 7/2013," wiiw Monthly Reports 2013-07, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    8. Platteau, Jean-Philippe, 2011. "Political Instrumentalization of Islam and the Risk of Obscurantist Deadlock," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 243-260, February.

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