The Arab Reform Initiative and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, in
partnership with ten research centers in the Arab World, have submitted a report over the
decline of the Arab Democracy Index and the lack of democratization and its ability to
transform the Arab region.
The report, entitled” The Arab Democracy Index 5” reveals the reality of the democratic
transition process in Jordan, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Egypt, and Morocco, covering the results of the survey conducted i8n these countries in 2015.
“Much has changed in the Arab region during the preparation of this report, but the overall
decline in the Arab Democracy scale was largely expected due to the closure of freedom in Arab
communities in 2011” said Ms.Basma Qaddamani, Executive Director of the Arab Reform
Initiative. It is now clear that the optimism that accompanied the Arab spring revolutions of a
breakthrough in the process of democratization was not in place.
The current Arab benchmark score is 571 points out of 1000, dropping 10 points from the
previous score which included nine other countries. Tunisia has witnessed the greatest progress
and Egypt has declined amongst all. As for Morocco, it took the lead for the fourth time in a
row, followed by Tunisia, Jordan, Kuwait, Algeria, Palestine, Lebanon followed by Egypt in the
eight place before Babrain and Saudi Arabia.
“The rulers continue to believe that they can only enact legal provisions to satisfy their people in
formality without applying them in practice, and keep their positions by circumventing and
rejecting democracy” Ms. Basma has added, “the intransigence of the rulers and the inability of
state institutions to ensure democratic transition may pose the greatest threat to the slight and
fragile progress of some indicators”
The sign of means, such as legislation and constitutions, surpasses the practice mark by 284
points, which indicates a huge gap between the government’s claims of reforms and the reality
of the people’s lives.
In order to progress the development of democratization and the qualitative leap which the
Arab people aspire to, the report emphasizes the need to enhance the oversight functions in
the political system, parliamentary accountability capabilities, respect for the independence of
the judiciary and oversight of the role of the security services.
It also recommends supporting the role of the women in the labor force, reforming education
and giving more freedom to the media to effectively participate in the development of public
debates and in the awareness of the citizens.
Background
The Arab Democracy Index 5 is based on information and opinion polls conducted in 2015,
which is the second measurement since the Arab spring revolutions in 2011. The Arab Reform
Initiative conducts the scale in cooperation with one of its members, the Palestinian Center for
Policy and Survey Research, and national teams in each of the surveyed countries. Four
previous reports have been published as well.
The ranking of the countries on a scale of 1000 points:
1. Morocco: 735
2. Tunisia: 690
3. Jordan: 640
4. Kuwait: 631
5. Algeria: 589
6. Palestine: 538
7. Lebanon: 532
8. Egypt: 503
9. Bahrain: 436
10. Saudi Arabia: 419
The Arab Democracy Index 5 Report. Click Here
