The State of Local Democracy in the Arab World: A Regional Report An Approach Based on National Reports from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen The State of Local Democracy in the Arab World: A Regional Report An Approach Based on National Reports from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen Compiled and edited by Ayman Ayoub International IDEA Participating organizations Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Centre (UJRC), Jordan The Parliamentary Think Tank (PTT), Egypt The Moroccan Association for Solidarity and Development (AMSED) The Human Rights Information and Training Centre (HRITC), Yemen This report was prepared as part of a project on the state of local democracy in the Arab world, which was funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). International IDEA resources on Political Participation and Representation The State of Local Democracy in the Arab World: A Regional Report © International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), 2010 This report is independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed in this Report do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA, its Board or its Council of Member States, or those of the donors. Applications for permission to reproduce all or any part of this publication should be made to: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) Strömsborg SE -103 34 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46-8-698 37 00 Fax: +46-8-20 24 22 Email: [email protected] Website: www.idea.int Design and layout by: Turbo Design, Ramallah Printed by: Bulls Graphics, Sweden Cover design by: Turbo Design, Ramallah ISBN: 978-91-85724-77-2 The contents of this report were prepared as part of a project on the assessment of the state of democracy at the local level in the Arab world, funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). The production of the report was made possible through a contribution by the Italian government. DISCLAIMER This report, its recommendations, conclusions and any views expressed in it, do not necessarily represent the views of the implementing or funding agencies including the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), and the governments of Spain and Italy. تنويه ل يعرب هذا التقرير، مبا يف ذلك جميع الآراء وال�ستنتاجات والتو�سيات الواردة فيه، عن وجهة النظر الر�سمية لأي من املوؤ�س�سات املنفذة اأو املمولة له، مبا فيها املوؤ�س�سة الدولية للدميقراطية والنتخابات (International IDEA )، وكل من احلكومة الإ�سبانية واحلكومة اليطالية. EXENCIÓN DE RESPONSABILIDADES Este informe, incluidas todas las opiniones, conclusiones y/o recomendaciones contenidas en el mismo, no refleja la opinión oficial de ninguna de las organizaciones que lo implementan o financian, incluidas IDEA Internacional y los Gobiernos de España y de Italia. Preface International IDEA’s mission is to support sustainable democracy worldwide, based on the principle that the success and sustainability of democracies emerge from within their respective communities. Any democratic arrangements and frameworks should build on the visions, concepts and values that exist within each society. This should be done within the parameters of respect for, and through the implementation of, the agreed basic principles that have made it possible today to talk about the establishment of a democratic system. The assessment of democracy at various levels is a key focus area that International IDEA strives to develop and provide the necessary tools to implement. Pre-assessment is the way to ensure that the requirement of democracy to derive its roots from within communities is able to move from theory to practice. International IDEA has developed a democracy assessment tool that moves away from traditional evaluation methods towards a process of in-depth self-assessment. The tool has been used with remarkable success, and a number of assessments drawing on its methodology have been carried out in many countries around the world, including new and old democracies. The Arab world has been a geographic focus area for International IDEA since its inception. In recent years, several initiatives and programmes for the region have been implemented and others are in the course of being developed by International IDEA, always in collaboration with local and regional partners that work in the areas of supporting democratic trends and building democracy in the Arab region. Among these initiatives is a project to assess the state of democracy at one of the most basic levels of government: the local level. The importance of this level derives from its proximity to the daily lives of people. Funded by the Spanish government, this project was carried out in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen. Assessment activities were conducted by specialist local organizations, each of which compiled a national report on its respective country. This regional report is based on the content of the four national reports. The aims of this report are to contribute to nurturing democratic reform programmes and initiatives across the Arab world, and to present a set of findings and recommendations that reflect local visions in a serious attempt to develop an insightful and methodological approach to local democracy. Mustaq Moorad Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East International IDEA 6 Acknowledgements International IDEA would like to sincerely thank the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, AECID) for providing a generous grant which made possible the ambitious project on the state of local democracy in the Arab world, of which this report is a key outcome. International IDEA is also very grateful to the Italian government for funding the production of this report. Additional thanks go to the participating organizations and their local research teams for the valuable work they have done on this project, which would not have been possible without their involvement: • the Parliamentary Think Tank in Egypt, and its director Ali El Sawi; • Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center in Jordan, and its director-general Hani Hourani; • the Moroccan Association for Solidarity and Development in Morocco, and its director Najat Sarhani; and • the Human Rights Information and Training Centre in Yemen, and its director- general Ezzedine Asbahi. International IDEA also acknowledges with gratitude and appreciation the efforts made by the Project Coordinators, Ayman Ayoub and Emad Yousef, in providing the knowledge and expertise that was the main driving force in putting this project together. Special thanks go to Margot Gould, Programme Officer for Africa and the Middle East, for her hard work and her oversight of the management and completion of the project; and to Michael Fridell and Nuno Durão for the logistical and administrative support they provided to the project. Additional thanks go to International IDEA’s publications team for successfully managing the production of this report. Particular thanks are due to Publications Managers Nadia Handal Zander and Lucy Smith for providing technical support and ensuring the smooth production of the final report; and to Qustandi Shomali for his professional input into editing the Arabic version of this report. We also thank Andrew Mash and Eve Johansson for their dedicated work in editing and proofreading this English version of the report. Last but not least, International IDEA would like to sincerely thank all those who contributed their time, expertise and ideas to the development of the report during the assessment processes in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen. 7 Contents Preface ....................................................................................................................................6 Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................................7 Content ...................................................................................................................................8 Acronyms and abbreviations .............................................................................................13 Chapter 1: Local Democracy .........................................................................................15 I. Introduction .....................................................................................................................15 II. Assessing the state of local democracy ......................................................................17 1. The concept and principles of local democracy .................................................17 2. Representative democracy versus participatory democracy ..............................21 3. The principle of self-assessment ...........................................................................22 4. The assessment methodology ................................................................................23 4.1. The International IDEA guide ....................................................................23 4.1.1. The need for IDEA’s Local Democracy Assessment Guide ........24 4.2. Applying the methodology to the Arab world: challenges and achievements ..........................................................................................................25 5. Conclusion: Key findings of the State of Local Democracy assessment in the Arab world ....................................................27 Chapter 2: Assessing