Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
This approach finds that democracy best grows out of existing local social and political traditions and practices.
When thinking about how democracy may take shape in the Arab Middle East, and in particular about how to help the process, one knows that a one-size-fits-all model is no good. But too little thought is given to finding alternatives.
Jeremy Jones and Nicholas Ridout argue for an approach based on a political version of "bio-diversity". This approach finds that democracy best grows out of existing local social and political traditions and practices. Without a basis in some kind of civil society, democratic institutions are likely to struggle. Which versions of civil society will help democratic development, and which will inhibit it?
Through a close study of actual existing practice in Dubai and Oman, Jones and Ridout conclude that even two small states such as these, in the same region and to a degree with a shared heritage, are taking significantly different paths. In Dubai, globalization and cosmopolitanism are creating a climate in which a managerial, stakeholder democracy may emerge. In Oman, a tradition of consultative rule, shaped by the distinctive philosophy of Ibadhi Islam, is guiding democratic development.
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