- 01 Apr 2013
Elections with Democracy in Tunisia? Islamists vs Secularists & the ‘Test’ of Democratic Transition
ABSTRACT:
How has Tunisia’s troika fared in its first attempt to rise to the challenge to democratic transition after the 14th of January Revolution? To address this question, a threefold analytical agenda was deployed: a/ contextualisation of the new polity and the ideological divides that pit Islamists against secularists; critical assessment of the ideological divides and impact on democratic transition; and illustration of this by looking at the draft constitution to showcase the political cacophony that has led to temporary transitional breakdown due to fractional and organisational problems. Basically, are we before a disunited new polity that may be precipitating intervals of transitional breakdown until tacit consensus on the rules of the game (entailing constitution-framing and institution-building) are adopted?
About the Speakers
Larbi Sadiki is an Arab-Australian of Tunisian origin. He is Specialist in Arab democracy & democratization, based at the Politics Department at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. His recent work is RETHINKING ARAB DEMOCRATIZATION: ELECTIONS WITHOUT DEMOCRACY (Oxford University Press, Hardback 2009, paperback 2011). He is editing the forthcoming Routeldge Handbook of the Arab Spring, to be released in October 2013. He writes a weekly column for Al-Jazeera English. He is currently completing a book on the Tunisian Revolution.
Event Details
National University of Singapore
469A Bukit Timah Road
Tower Block Level 2 Singapore 259770