ABSTRACT
The goal of this chapter is to elaborate a framework suited for analysis of the relationship between intra-elite dynamics, elite attitudes, strategies and choices and political system change,2 or more precisely the absence of such change in Algeria after 1995, when the country experienced a second wave of political and economic liberalization. In a first and second step, two of the theoretical approaches most obvious for tackling this question, transition theory and elite theory, including earlier approaches to Algerian elites, will be discussed critically. A third step focuses on ways to compensate for explanatory deficits of these theories when applied to contemporary Algeria. This will, finally, lead to a theoretical and methodological framework that not only allows for analysis of developments within the elite but also places elites in their historical, social, cultural and economic context in order to understand what guides their strategies and choices.
