A decade of struggling reform efforts in Jordan : the resilience of the rentier system / Marwan Muasher.

"May 2011."

"The protests that spread throughout the Middle East in the spring of 2011 are calling greater attention to reform in the region. King Abdullah II has attempted to launch a number of political reform initiatives in Jordan since coming to the throne in 1999. But all efforts to open up the political system have been thwarted by a resilient class of political elites and bureaucrats who feared that such efforts would move the country away from a decades-old rentier system to a merit-based one. This group accurately predicted that reform would chip away, even if gradually, at privileges it had acquired over a long period of time in return for its blind loyalty to the system. It thus stood firm not just against the reform efforts themselves, but also in opposition to the king's own policies. The reform process in Jordan has largely stalled since the "National Agenda" was first proposed in 2005. Successive governments paid lip service to it, but dropped all references to its recommendations on political reform. The old election law -- structurally flawed to thwart the development of a strong parliament and a system of checks and balances -- has largely been left intact. The lack of a serious reform process has resulted in successive weak parliaments, a rise in corruption, and an erosion of public trust in state institutions that has manifested itself in unprecedented social tensions in the country."--Summary.

Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction -- The early years -- The governments of Ali Abu Ragheb, 2000-2003 -- The Jordan-first initiative, 2002 -- The shift toward political reform : the 2003 government of Faisal Al-Faiz -- The national agenda, 2005 -- The we are all Jordan initiative, 2006 -- A decade in review : looking back -- Conclusion.