ABSTRACT
Tunisian civil society’s agency and activism played a vital role in the country’s post-revolution democratic transition. This chapter analyses civil society’s activities throughout the 2011 revolution until the new government was formed after the 2014 parliamentary and presidential elections and evaluates the political culture of Tunisia’s civil society by addressing its character, evolution, political culture, and contribution to the democratic transition. Though analysis of key events, including the 2011 National Constituent Assembly elections, the religious-secular polarisation of Tunisian society, political assassinations, assembly deadlock and the National Dialogue, and the ratification of a constitution, this chapter demonstrates that Tunisia has moved from authoritarianism to the complex process of transitioning to democracy. Due to Tunisia’s historic tradition of civil society activism, the presence of important mobilisation networks, sub-national activism, and the political weight that organisations such as the UGTT hold in influencing state decisions, civil society was able to play an active role in organising and channelling collective anger towards the state during the revolution and transition.
