Rules and Rights in the Middle East Democracy, Law, and Society

"In recent years there has been a marked growth in the number and influence of social movements and organizations working to expand social, political, and civil rights, and to constrain the power of the states in many countries in the Middle East. At the same time many of the regimes in the area have introduced practices and institutions designed to make their rule more democratic in order to enhance their domestic and international standing and legitimacy, as well as to spur economic growth." "As a whole, the book demonstrates that neither the region's overgrown state structures nor the corresponding weakness of autonomous societal organizations can be explained by referring to cultural characteristics of the people in the Middle East or to the precepts of their religions. True explanations, the authors argue, should be framed historically. They pay special attention to the relations among the various groups and regions of the Middle East and to those between the Middle East and western Europe. The authors emphasize the important role played by economic issues and constraints in broadening or narrowing the scope of democracy at various points in time; and finally, they are in agreement in seeing religion and culture of the Middle East not in static and essentialist terms but as dynamic phenomena that grow independently and even in opposition to existing political authorities."--BOOK JACKET.