The lure of authoritarianism : the Maghreb after the Arab Spring / edited by Stephen J. King and Abdeslam M. Maghraoui ; with an afterword by Hicham Alaoui.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : the lure of authoritarianism / Abdeslam M. Maghraoui -- Authoritarian trends -- Religious conservatism, religious extremism, and civil society in North Africa / Marina Ottaway -- Do political and economic grievances foster support for political Islam in the post-Arab Spring Maghrib? / Mark Tessler -- Demographic pressure, social demands, and instability in the Maghreb / Wai Mun Hong -- Shifting courses : the economies of the Maghreb after 2011 / Karen Pfeifer -- Geopolitical evolutions in North Africa after the Arab Spring / Pierre Razoux -- Jihadism in the post-Arab Spring / Daveed Gartenstein-Ross -- Case studies. Introduction to part II : case studies / Stephen J. King -- Elections before and after the Arab Spring / Stephen J. King -- Tunisia triggers the Arab Spring / Stephen J. King -- Social and external origins of state collapse : the crisis of transition and strategies for political and institutional reconstruction in Libya / Ali Abdullatif Ahmida -- From authoritarian pluralism to centralized autocracy in Morocco / Abdeslam M. Maghraoui -- The politics of Mauritania's Arab uprising and aftermath / Matt Buehler and Mehdi Ayari -- Algeria : economic austerity, political stagnation, and the gathering storm / Azzedine Layachi -- Afterword / Hicham Alaoui.

The works collected in The Lure of Authoritarianism consider the normative appeal of authoritarianism in light of the 2011 popular uprisings in the Middle East. Despite what seemed to be a popular revolution in favor of more democratic politics, there has instead been a slide back toward authoritarian regimes that merely gesture toward notions of democracy. In the chaos that followed the Arab Spring, societies were lured by the prospect of strong leaders with firm guiding hands. The shift toward normalizing these regimes seems sudden, but the works collected in this volume document a gradual shift toward support for authoritarianism over democracy that stretches back decades in North Africa. Contributors consider the ideological, socioeconomic, and security-based justifications of authoritarianism as well as the surprising and vigorous reestablishment of authoritarianism in these regions. With careful attention to local variations and differences in political strategies, the volume provides a nuanced and sweeping consideration of the changes in the Middle East in the past and what they mean for the future.