The DOI matches its Crossref record; 53 of the 53 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Local actors in the driver's seat: Transatlantic democracy promotion under regime competition in the Arab world
Open accessAbstract
In studies of political transition, scholars started to explore the effect of competition between foreign policies of antipodal regimes on the political trajectories of transition countries, notably between traditional Western donors such as the European Union and the United States of America and regional authoritarian powers such as Saudi Arabia. Drawing on existing accounts, this article studies the conditions under which external actors can effectively steer local elite towards democratic reforms despite illiberal regional powers’ potential counteractions. We argue that the reform-oriented political elites in the recipient country are the ultimate judges in this competition for influence. If democracy promotion is credible, they will decide in favour of democratization, but only if the expected costs and benefits of democratic engagement resist solicitation by authoritarian powers. A study of post-Arab Spring democracy promotion in Tunisia supports the pivotal role of the external donors’ credibility in times of complex donor constellations.
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“Still, the same survival interests may lead them to accept FDI in the expansion of internet pro vision that is critical to achieving economic or political goals. 39”
From Authoritarian collaboration and repression in the digital age: balancing foreign direct investment and control in internet infrastructure (2026) · cites this paper as [39]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Freyburg, T., & Richter, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Warwick (GB)
- University of Erfurt (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Freyburg, Tina
- Venue
- Democratization
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2015-03-24
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 496-518
- ISSN
- 1351-0347 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-890X
- OpenAlex
- W2025641447
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 8.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Democratization (publishedVersion)
- Alexandria (UniSG) (University of St.Gallen) (acceptedVersion)
- Alexandria (UniSG) (University of St.Gallen) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › International Relations and Foreign Policy
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts
- Keywords
- democracy promotion, regime competition, Arab Spring, Tunisia, political elites, authoritarian power, Saudi Arabia, European Union, United States, political transition
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