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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.
Since the 1990s, Moroccan civil society groups have been proliferating, and they are increasingly influential in addressing society-wide matters including the rights of women, ethnic minorities, and the poor.
Read the full essay here. Political Islam is often cited as the key challenge to democratization in Muslim nations, but deep currents of authoritarianism may prove more of an obstacle.…
