ABSTRACT
In transitions from authoritarian rule, the actions of the ruling party have a significant effect on the course of the transition. What matters are less the institutional similarities of transitions than the content of the institutions, their ideological presuppositions, and the economic and social conditions from which they are derived. It is in this context that an examination of the transition from authoritarianism in Algeria is of value to comparative political science. The local elections of 12 June 1990 were an extraordinary demonstration of democracy in Algeria and the Arab world. Algeria's first test of democracy has revealed a number of critical changes in the Algerian political system. The political elites that subsequently emerged from political parties made opposition to the National Liberation Front a crucial criterion for anyone aspiring to political leadership. The riots of October 1988 set in motion a change in the nature of political elites and the bases of political legitimacy.
