https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2022.105849

Modeling long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price declines on Gulf oil economies

When applied to the Gulf region in general and Kuwait more specifically, the rentier state theory stipulates that the political relations between state and business are determined by the rent. Thus, business essentially ceases to represent a strong political force and withdraws from the formal political field in exchange for wealth provided by the state. However, the evidence from Kuwait’s recent history suggests that there is great variation between the patterns of political engagement in Kuwait’s merchant families. Some families have been continuously active in the country’s parliamentary politics and political field more broadly; their political action has not always been pro-government and, in general, the merchant community in Kuwait still possesses powerful means to negotiate government distribution patterns and to influence political decisionmaking. Thus, the main research question posed in the Thesis is the following: why do we observe merchants’ active political engagement in Kuwait counter to the prediction of the rentier state theory, and what can explain the variation of merchants’ political activity? The Thesis will analyse and compare Kuwait business politics along the dichotomies of passive versus active engagement and voice versus loyalty towards the government. Through this analysis I will define the factors which explain why some merchant families engage in parliamentary politics, while others do not, and why at times the merchant community allies with the opposition, and at others with the government. I will further examine what impact this political engagement by business has on the country’s economic reform policies. The analysis will establish that, although rent matters, the political action of business in Kuwait and its variation is defined by the country’s semi-parliamentary political system, while factors such as rent-seeking, ascriptive features, relations with the ruling powers and the changing nature of the country’s political field are essential intervening variables.

The merchant elite and parliamentary politics in Kuwait : the dynamics of business political participation in a rentier state

Employing the Spiral of Silence theory, this study examines the influence of four cultural dimensions (collectivism, resistance to change, commitment to religion, and patriarchy and hierarchy) on g...

Offline and Online Gender Differences in Opinion Expression about Women Inclusion in the Police Force in the Arab Gulf State of Kuwait

This study offers an overview of the current status of journalism and mass communication education in the Arab World. Specifically, through an exploratory analysis of structure, curricula and faculty from ten journalism and mass communication programs in five Arab countries, the study identified four typologies that characterize journalism and mass communication education in the Arab World. These typologies were also determined by political and economic differences in the region. In an effort to expand literature on global journalism and mass communication education, this study was the first to apply typologies in its methodological approach. Through the process of classification, the study was able to provide a better understanding of how and why journalism education differs within a specific region.

Journalism and mass communication education in the Arab World: Towards a typology:

The study examined the four major political reforms undertaken in Kuwait post- liberation: the restoration of the National Assembly in 1992, the separation of posts of the Crown Prince from the post of the Prime Minister in 2003, women’s suffrage in 2005 and the redefining of the electoral districts in 2006. These were analysed to establish whether these political reforms represented a process of democratisation or political liberalisation that ultimately consolidated the power of liberalised autocracy and was merely a regime survival strategy. To do that the study employed a theoretical framework that considers Robert Dahl’s (1971) criteria: political participation, contestation and expansion of civil and political rights to assess whether Kuwait’s political system is democratic or not, in conjunction with David Potter’s scheme (1997) of the six pre-requisites that can promote and/or inhibit the process of democratisation: relation of state and political institutions, societal divisions, economic development, civil society, political culture and transnational/international engagement in order to identify the drivers and/or the obstacles to a democratic transition. This analysis contributes to the wider discussions on democratisation processes, furthering the understanding of the necessary conditions for democratisation, as well as what the nature of the obstacles to reform are in the Gulf region. The study concluded that the political reforms were not evidence of democratisation; rather they were part of Al Sabah’s own survival strategy and are better understood in terms of a liberalising autocracy. Nonetheless, they brought to the surface the contradictions inherent in the political structures and processes and allowed a space for civil society movements to emerge, mobilise and attempt to counter the dominance of the state as well as coming forth as another significant factor (the first being the National Assembly) pushing for democratisation. This apparent increase in civil society activism gives hope that change is possible.

Political Reforms and the Process of Democratisation in Kuwait 1992-2013

Why does Kuwait have a powerful national parliament while the other Gulf monarchies do
not? In this paper I explore several explanations for Kuwait’s National Assembly, addressing
works by Jill Crystal, Sean Yom and others. I argue that the Iraqi threat had a crucial
role during two historical episodes: the writing of the constitution in 1962, and the restoration
of the constitution after liberation from Iraqi occupation. In the conclusion, I
explore the lessons of the Kuwaiti case for the prospects for reform in the other five oil-rich
monarchies of the Gulf. This paper draws on research presented in my book The Wages of
Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE (2014).

/pdf/the-origins-of-kuwait-s-national-assembly-21yvr5xvzw.pdf

The origins of Kuwait’s national assembly

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Michael Herb

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

The origins of Kuwait’s national assembly