Ben Ali's Tunisia: Power and Contention in an Authoritarian Regime

Description

Based on a wealth of new primary data, this book offers the first account of the internal regime factors that ultimately caused the fall of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's long dictatorship in Tunisia during the Arab Uprisings. Anne Wolf's account challenges studies that focus on the role of mass mobilization alone, and demonstrates that in the last decade of Ben Ali's presidency, dissent within his ruling party - the Constitutional Democratic Rally - mounted to such an extent that followers began challenging their own powerbroker. The culmination of this was a secret coup d'état staged by regime figures against Ben Ali in January 2011, an event that has not previously been uncovered. Wolf proposes a new theory of power and contention within ruling parties in authoritarian regimes to explain how dictators seek to fortify their rule and foster party-political stability, but also when, why, and how they succumb to internal contention and with what effect. Cover Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures List of Abbreviations A Note on Transliteration `Who's Who?' in Ben Ali's Regime Introduction 1 The Dictator's Party The puzzle Key arguments and theory Methodological considerations Outline of chapters 2 A Man amongst Others . . . a Man above All The coup Strategies of legitimation Thwarting internal resistance The remaking of the ruling party The old guard’s decline Co-opting the opposition Be with us, oragainst us Establishing executive control The man above all Creeping internal dissent 3 Fortifying Carthage Stoking fear, evoking chaos Expanding the palace The rise of the lumpen activist A grid of spies Silencing the opposition The tiger of the Mediterranean All the President’s ‘technocrats’ Limited internal opposition 4 All in the Family A looming succession crisis High stakes, many clans The Trabelsis The party and the family Elite restructuring The rise of family associates Forms of resistance Usurping the party leadership The congress of succession 5 The Rebellion A Destourian revolt? Sidi Bouzid’s ‘traitors’ Sidelined loyalists The old guard’s revenge Eroding countermobilization Where are the Trabelsis? Ben Ali’s ousting The dissolution of the RCD 6 Conclusion Correctivism and the personalization of power New normative ideas, authoritarian regeneration, and decay Internecine contention and regime collapse Implications for future research Selected Bibliography Index