Weak State, Weak Civil Society: The Politics of State-Society Relations in the Arab World

Abstract

Most Arab states are categorized as authoritarian state-corporatist characterized by limited legitimacy, coercive security apparatus, and inefficient administration. Despite apparent similarities with the supreme state and primordial society, Arab states also possess distinct variants. In conservative state-corporatist states including Saudi Arabia and other kinship-based monarchies, the state is weak due to the low autonomy from and high immersion into particular social groups. On the other hand, in populist state-corporatist states, such as Egypt and other single-party ruled republics, the state is weak because of the high insulation from and low responsiveness toward the broad social structure. In a similar vein, while the civil society of the former is weak owing to the highly submissive attitudes toward the state, that of the latter is weak due to the radical and militant attitudes toward the state.