Research Article

“Waves” of Western Literature on “Democratization in the Arab World”: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies?

Volume: 20 Number: 2 April 27, 2021
EN TR

“Waves” of Western Literature on “Democratization in the Arab World”: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies?

Abstract

It has become commonplace among Western scholars to treat supposed processes of “democratization” in terms of “waves” since Samuel Huntington’s seminal book published in 1991—The Third Wave. The Western literature on “democratization in the Arab world” is no exception, and some Western scholars have labeled the Arab uprisings that began in late 2010 the “fourth wave of democratization”. The main research question of this article is whether this literature consists of genuine scholarly analyses of political change in the Arab world or whether it is instead reflective of political exigencies of the West. This article defends the latter position, and asserts that there are indeed waves of the Western literature on “democratization in the Arab world” rather than the so-called “waves of democratization”. The article argues that this literature has been reflective of the political exigencies of the U.S. leadership from its very beginning by discussing its relationship to the anti-Communist Modernization school of political development that emerged in the United States in the early Cold War years. The article also demonstrates that there is a striking continuity within that literature in terms of the themes it has covered despite its decades-long existence.

Keywords

References

  1. Huntington S.P. 1991a. “Democracy’s Third Wave.” Journal of Democracy. Vol. 2. No. 2. PP. 12–34. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1991.0016. Huntington S.P. 1991b. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Political Science

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

April 27, 2021

Submission Date

February 8, 2021

Acceptance Date

March 15, 2021

Published in Issue

Year 2021 Volume: 20 Number: 2

APA
Soysal, C. (2021). “Waves” of Western Literature on “Democratization in the Arab World”: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies? Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 20(2), 748-762. https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.876565
AMA
1.Soysal C. “Waves” of Western Literature on “Democratization in the Arab World”: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies? GAUN-JSS. 2021;20(2):748-762. doi:10.21547/jss.876565
Chicago
Soysal, Coşkun. 2021. ““Waves” of Western Literature on ‘Democratization in the Arab World’: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies?”. Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 20 (2): 748-62. https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.876565.
EndNote
Soysal C (April 1, 2021) “Waves” of Western Literature on “Democratization in the Arab World”: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies? Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 20 2 748–762.
IEEE
[1]C. Soysal, ““Waves” of Western Literature on ‘Democratization in the Arab World’: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies?”, GAUN-JSS, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 748–762, Apr. 2021, doi: 10.21547/jss.876565.
ISNAD
Soysal, Coşkun. ““Waves” of Western Literature on ‘Democratization in the Arab World’: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies?”. Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 20/2 (April 1, 2021): 748-762. https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.876565.
JAMA
1.Soysal C. “Waves” of Western Literature on “Democratization in the Arab World”: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies? GAUN-JSS. 2021;20:748–762.
MLA
Soysal, Coşkun. ““Waves” of Western Literature on ‘Democratization in the Arab World’: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies?”. Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, vol. 20, no. 2, Apr. 2021, pp. 748-62, doi:10.21547/jss.876565.
Vancouver
1.Coşkun Soysal. “Waves” of Western Literature on “Democratization in the Arab World”: Genuine Analyses or Political Exigencies? GAUN-JSS. 2021 Apr. 1;20(2):748-62. doi:10.21547/jss.876565