The 2007 elections in Morocco were not about putting competing political projects or societal options before the voters in order to let them choose among them. In fact, the elections were mainly about changing the methods by which the system can adapt in the face of a crisis among its elites. Morocco is a country with a “defused” political game.
About the Author
Mohamed Tozy is professor of political science and sociology at Hassan II University in Morocco and at the University of Provence in Aixen-Provence, France. He is an expert in development sociology and in traditional institutions’ management of collective resources in Morocco and Saharan Africa, and has won the Philippe Habert Prize for political science.
Morocco was not immune to the 2011 upheavals in the Arab world, but the country’s monarchy deftly managed the crisis through cosmetic constitutional reform.
Since the 1950s, Morocco has engaged in reforms that have established a relatively open political and economic system, but democracy has not gained much in the bargain.
Read the full essay here. The debate on the compatibility of Islamism and democracy has tended to focus on two main scenarios. In the first, Islamist political parties become agents…
