First Advisor

Lindsay Benstead

Term of Graduation

2019

Date of Publication

Summer 8-14-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Political Science

Department

Political Science

Language

English

Subjects

Wāsiṭah, Democracy – Tunisia, Tunisia -- Politics and government, Patron and client

DOI

10.15760/etd.7258

Physical Description

1 online resource (viii, 37 pages)

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight the impact of democratization on wasta by examining the everyday performance of wasta, or the use of connections and informal networks to acquire services. Despite its widespread use, I find that it is understudied as an explanatory variable in the literature on democratization and authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa, with Tunisia as a case study. In this paper, I argue that wasta can potentially have a consolidating effect on regimes. I examine the ways that wasta is encoded in everyday language. Using literature from Pragmatics, specifically Goffman's dramaturgical model, I find that Tunisians' discursive world view reveals the power dynamics that underly the performance of wasta. I close with a research agenda that examines common approaches to studying wasta and how they can be improved by integrating an ethnographic lens.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/30918

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