Barriers to democracy : the other side of social capital in Palestine and the Arab world / Amaney A. Jamal.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-164) and index.

Introduction: Democratic outcomes and associational life -- Associational life in the centralized authoritarian context of the West Bank -- The polarization of Palestinian associational life -- Trust, engagement, and democracy -- Beyond Palestine : Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt -- Conclusion: Toward a theory of democratic citizenship in state-centralized nations -- Appendix A: Survey questions and coding of associational members -- Appendix B: Survey questions and coding of general Palestinian population -- Appendix C: Survey questions and coding of general Moroccan population (World Values Survey Questions).

"Democracy-building efforts from the early 1990s on have funneled billions of dollars into nongovernmental organizations across the developing world, with the U.S. administration of George W. Bush leading the charge since 2001. But are many such "civil society" initiatives fatally flawed? Focusing on the Palestinian West Bank and the Arab world, Barriers to Democracy mounts a powerful challenge to the core tenet of civil society initiatives: namely, that public participation in private associations necessarily yields the sort of civic engagement that, in turn, sustains effective democratic institutions. Such assertions tend to rely on evidence from states that are democratic to begin with. Here, Amaney Jamal investigates the role of civic associations in promoting democratic attitudes and behavioral patterns in contexts that are less than democratic."--Jacket.