ABSTRACT
The United Arab Emirates has a federal system of government composed of a federal government and seven states (emirates) with the later possessing strong constitutional power in their local jurisdictions. The social fabric of the country shapes to some extent the national policy style in the country. Therefore, this chapter investigates the question of how the traditional tribal legacy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is incorporated into the modern institutions of policymaking and how this incorporation of historical legacy interacts with these modern institutions to produce a unique national style of policymaking. The historical tribal governance or legacy was based on networks of patron-client reciprocal relationships between tribal sheikhs and their tribesmen and underpins the legitimacy of the current system of government and influences the national style of policymaking. The chapter utilizes a modified version of the elite theory to explain the national policy style in the UAE.
