Saudi Arabia ─ Political Structure and Reforms

Tracing the historical background of Saudi Arabia, this book analyses political developments from a theoretical perspective by employing competing paradigms and conceptual categories evolved by the scholars from time to time. It tries to dissect the structural and operational matrix of the monarchical system caught between authoritarian clientelism and democratic symbolism. Beset with a number of challenges, al-Saud regime has allowed controlled democratic space to contain the simmering opposition inside the Kingdom, drawing its legitimacy from religion and rentier politics. In this context, the Saudi experiment with democracy takes a departure from the universal principles of democracy - popular participation, individual liberty, justice, equity, transparency and accountability - and does not truly refract these principles through the prism of Islamic values. Moreover, the limited democratic space created by the Saudi regime has been reinforced by regularization of the popular participatory process to build and consolidate structural mechanisms - Majlis al-Shura (legislature), the partially elected Municipal Councils and National Dialogue Sessions - for according institutional legitimacy to the al-Saud regime. The author argues that the emerging political reality in Saudi Arabia is not so simple to understand and this book may help the reader appreciate the complex realities of Saudi politics and comprehend the challenges that inhibit the growth of a democratic system in the desert kingdom.