Reimagining Democracy in the Arab World: From Liberal Form to Social Justice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55578/jedip.2607.009Keywords:
Liberal democracy, Elite dominance, Political participation, Solidarity democracy, Social justice, Arab worldAbstract
This article critically examines the applicability of Western liberal democracy in Arab and Global South contexts, arguing that its procedural emphasis often fails to produce substantive outcomes in terms of justice, inclusion, and redistribution. Drawing on a qualitative multi-case comparative design, the study analyses five Arab countries, Jordan, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Tunisia, using Critical Discourse Analysis and comparative political economy. The findings reveal that democratic practices in these contexts remain largely formalistic, centred on elections and consultative institutions that rarely translate into meaningful shifts in power or wealth distribution. Instead, political systems tend to reproduce elite dominance through electoral recycling, performance legitimacy, and controlled public discourse. A key finding is the persistent absence of social justice as a governing principle, which weakens public trust and reduces democracy to symbolic participation. Marginalized groups, including women, youth, and minorities, are frequently included in political rhetoric but excluded from meaningful decision-making, reinforcing structural inequality. The study also identifies a significant mismatch between imported liberal democratic models and local socio-cultural realities characterized by collectivist norms and embedded identities. In response, the article proposes an alternative framework of “solidarity democracy,” grounded in social justice, collective empowerment, and culturally embedded governance. This model connects political rights with economic equity through practical mechanisms such as empowered local councils, participatory budgeting, citizen assemblies, transparency systems, accountability mechanisms, and institutional protections for marginalized groups. The study concludes that democracy in the Arab world should be reimagined not as an imported institutional template, but as an endogenous project rooted in local histories, cultural values, and social needs.
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