CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2009
| Author | Touzani, Fouad |
|---|---|
| Title | Al-Jazeera and the Democratic Transition in the Arab World: Empowering Arab Civil Society and Compensating for the Decline of Political Parties |
| Summary | Al-Jazeera has recently become a point of research interests for many scholars representing various academic disciplines. However, few of them have considered this controversial transnational TV network as an important player in the undergoing democratic transition throughout the Arab world. This thesis argues that Al-Jazeera can be an important contributor to the democratic transition in the region; an argument which remains contrary to that of the democratic transition theory. Democratic transition theorists highlight the important role of elites within political parties and civil society organizations in the democratization process. In contrast, they tend to downplay the role of media claiming that it is very likely to be controlled and influenced by governments and lobbies. The thesis draws a picture of dysfunctional Arab political parties and a fledgling Arab civil society with a little or no potential contribution in the democratic transition. In so saying, using a combination of content and discourse analyses of Al-Jazeera’s website and broadcasts as well as cross-national surveys and short case studies, the thesis shows Al-Jazeera’s strong potential in recompensing the role of these two players through empowering Arab civil society and indirectly performing some of the functions of the declining Arab political parties. Thus, the thesis concludes that Al-Jazeera can be a strong player in the democratic transition throughout the region. |
| Supervisor | Sukosd, Miklos |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2009/touzani_fouad.pdf |
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