This book unravels the secrets behind the Algerian regime’s survival and the pillars of its longevity. How did authoritarian consolidation happen, and why is it likely to continue despite Bouteflika’s departure and the emergence of a new actor: the popular movement, Hirak. The author sheds light on the pillars behind the durability of Algeria’s regime. The latter has demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to perpetuate itself through an array of mechanisms. It identifies Algeria’s authoritarianism as a distinctly competitive and adaptable kind, which has better allowed the regime to persist in the face of all manner of change. The book analyzes Algeria’s situation and the regime persistence far from the premise of a trend towards democratization. The project also contributes to a broader area of study concerned with “competitive authoritarianism,” regimes that face domestic resistance, the question of what and how compels such regimes to change, the nature of their political institutions, and more.
Author(s): Dalia Ghanem
Series: Middle East Today
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 220
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Praise for Understanding the Persistence of Competitive Authoritarianism in Algeria
Contents
Acronyms
1 Introduction
Algerian Leaders’ Political Playbook
The Pillars of the Algerian Regime
References
2 The Military: The Real Broker of Power in Algeria
At the Beginning, the ALN
The Crisis of the Summer of 1962
Not the Last Military Coup
Boumediene and the Rise of Military Security
Bendjedid and the Advent of Multiparty Politics
The Army, the DRS, and the Years of Lead
Bouteflika in, the Military Back to Their Barracks?
Bouteflika Out, the Men in Uniform Win Again
Resolute Hirak, Tenacious Military
References
3 Hyperpluralism and Co-Optation: The Secrets Behind Turning the Opposition into a Pillar of the Regime
The 1989 Opening and the “Partification of Politics”
The Main Opposition Parties
The Legislature: The Best Means to Neutralize Opposition
The Islamists and the Art of Co-Optation
Elections at Any Cost: The Need for a Democratic Alibi
Nodding and Losing Credibility
References
4 Divide and Conquer: The Atomization of Civil Society
1962–1988: Between Repression and Toleration
CSOs in the 1990s: Totemic Organizations and Agents of Stabilization?
CSOs as Agents of International Legitimation
Bouteflika’s Use and Abuse of CSOs
The Regime’s Toolkit for the Recalcitrant
Legal Obstacles
Cloning Strategy
CSOs: Mirror Image of the Regime
References
5 A Controlled Economic Liberalization
1962–1988: The Monopolization of the Hydrocarbon Industry
Ben Bella and Autogestion
Boumediene’s Policies and the Rise of Opportunities to “Cash In”
1978–1992: Chadlism, Infitah, and Affairisme
For a Better Life?
“Work and Rigor,” a Difficult Serenity
Impossible Reforms
1992–1999: War Economy and the Structural Adjustment
1999–2019: Bouteflika and the Rise of the Algerian Oligarchy
The Creation of Custom-Made Monopolies
The Mechanics of Corruption
2019: Yet Another Reset?
References
6 The Policies of Violence and Repression
1962–1988: The Years of Lead
Violence Against Opponents
Violence Against Society
The Repression of Identity and Its Culmination: The Berber Spring
October 1988, the Grapes of Wrath
1989–1992: The Descent Into Violence
The FIS: From Accommodation to Confrontation
1992–1998: Repression and the “Total War on Terror”
The “Security Centers”
The Total War on Terror and Forced Disappearances
2001: The “Black Spring”
The 2019 Hirak: Calibrated and Targeted Repression
References
7 Conclusion: Algeria’s Future Prospects—Less Competitive, More Authoritarian
References
