The Rise and Fall of Tunisian Democracy : Populism, Polarization, and the Perils of Power-Sharing

This book explores the collapse of Tunisian democracy, despite it having been the one success story of the Arab Spring. From Tunisia's experience, the book also generates lessons for democratic transitions across the globe. It is an ideal resource for readers interested in democratization, the Arab Spring, populism, or polarization.

After the Arab Spring, Tunisia emerged as the one success story to transition to democracy, winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2015 for its focus on inclusion and power-sharing. How, then, did its democracy collapse in 2021? Drawing on unique interviews with senior Tunisian officials, alongside three nationally representative surveys of the population, The Rise and Fall of Tunisian Democracy points to an overemphasis on compromise, consensus, and power-sharing. Although power-sharing institutions can be useful at the start of a transition, the book finds that extending them beyond that point can lead democracy to unravel by frustrating voters and spurring the rise of populists and extremists. The book takes an in-depth look at Tunisia's transition and then explores how far the theory travels through a quantitative analysis of all democratic transitions between 1942–2020. Overall, the book reveals the dark side of power-sharing, broadening our understanding of the causes of populism, polarization, and democratic breakdown.