Mass Mobilization and the Democracy Bias

• Published in: Middle East policy Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 145 - 155
• Main Authors: Howard, Marc Morjé, Walters, Meir R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2015; Middle East Policy Council
• Subjects: Authoritarianism; Authoritarianism (Political Ideology); Democracy; Democratization; Demonstrations & protests; Middle East; Mobilization; Narratives; Policy Analysis; Political dissent; Political mobilization; Political participation; Political Parties; Rebellions; Revolution; Scholarship; Social change; Social Movements
• ISSN: 1061-1924; 1475-4967
• DOI: 10.1111/mepo.12134

There is no formal consensus that uprisings against authoritarianism are necessarily movements for liberal democracy. Indeed, framing uprisings as pro-democratic works against insights from scholarship on social movements, politics under authoritarianism and even democratic transitions, which tend to look at democratization as a process of strategic bargains among self-interested parties. Yet assumptions about the democratic character of uprisings still cloud journalistic narratives and policy analysis, and sometimes make their way into academic discussions. All of these fields would be better served by separating the analysis of mass mobilization from democratization, and overcoming four key misconceptions about how these two phenomena are supposedly linked. Adapted from the source document.