ABSTRACT
The presence of a democratic deficit in the Middle East is seen as a major inhibitor to peace and stability. In this chapter analysis of the cause of this deficit and critique of current approaches in terms of regional and external efforts to re-shape the region according to a democratic ‘blueprint’ will be made. Early approaches that identified the causes of failure centred on the modernization thesis. These were then followed by explanations that dwelt on the cultural and religious causes for a lack of a democratic impulse. Many of these approaches, however, failed to address the impact of Western hegemonic approaches combined as they were with liberal and neo-liberal economic projects and globalization agendas. The final section contends that democracy is not the deficit factor but the framework for approach as inauthentic and artificial combined with a double-standard of application inhibits a meaningful address of the freedom deficit in the region.
