ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the structural and cultural variables touching on religion, democratisation and human rights. Religion by itself is neither a favourable factor nor an obstacle to democratisation. It all depends on the existence of a genuine relationship between structural and cultural factors. Fundamentalism and radical Islam are recent phenomena from which North Africa was spared for some time. The literature on modernisation focusing on the transitional status can help us to understand what the obstacles are to the modernisation of North African countries and what the areas may be where social and historical transformations are needed. Democratisation refers to the processes "whereby the rules and procedures of citizenship are either applied to political institutions previously governed by other principles". Economically, liberalisation implies a gradual shift from a bureaucratic and state-controlled economy to one based on the law of the market. Structural factors consist of economics, social stratification and political interaction.
