ABSTRACT
Scholarly writings have referred to the ‘exceptionalism’ of the Arab region, meaning the general persistence of autocracy in the Arab countries in contrast to progress towards democratic governance in other regions of the world, a matter confirmed by well-known democracy indicators. Human Development Indices for the region reflect significant progress over the two decades prior to 2011, though tapering in the subsequent years on account of its ongoing conflicts. The Arab uprisings of 2011 reflect, to a large extent, the ultimate failure of a development strategy to promote a new, more inclusive, and democratic social contract. The promise of such a transformation notwithstanding, the remaining overhanging influence of Arab authoritarianism renders uncertain a move in the direction of genuine democratic governance, as demonstrated by the contrasting examples of the two other countries that experienced the uprisings, Egypt and Tunisia.
