Tunisien och demokratins inneboende instabilitet

Abstract

Tunisia and the Inherent Instability of Democracy

Following a decade of democratic consolidation since the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Tunisian democratic process has now faltered. Since coming to power in a landslide election in 2019, former law professor Kais Saied has undermined democracy at every turn. Saied came to power largely through the support of the same youth that ten years earlier had led the protests against Ben Ali. This article makes the case that in order to understand the youths seeming rejection of democracy, we must first investigate how they understand democracy and what expectations surround it. The article is based on fieldwork among young men in interior, historically marginalized regions, of the country between 2015 to 2019. Democracy, for many young men, implies a state that can provide “bread and dignity”, understood as a responsive state beyond political representation. This can be contrasted with the young men’s experience of democratic transition, which they associated with uncertainty and instability.