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Abstract
The aim of this article is to contribute to the unpacking of hybrid regimes such as Morocco, showing some of the micro-mechanisms and power dynamics that shape and organise them. To illustrate these processes, the article looks beyond approaches that dismiss the electoral process in authoritarian and hybrid regimes as a mere façade. Instead, attention is paid to the politics of the elections themselves. Through ethnographic material collected in suburban neighbourhoods of Casablanca before, during and after the electoral campaign of three female political candidates in Morocco's municipal and communal elections of 2009, two interconnected power relations are analysed: gender relations and representations, and the relationship between local associations and the partisan political sphere. This study shows that a number of recent reforms have contributed to the pluralisation of the political sphere in Morocco, opening up new channels through which outsiders such as women and, more generally, individuals with little political experience and capital have been able to enter the political sphere. The article also sheds light, however, on the direct and indirect ways in which this process of inclusion goes hand in hand with the reproduction of norms, representations and control mechanisms that reinforce former power hierarchies.
Acknowledgements
I thank the two reviewers as well as Julie Pruzan-Jorgensen, Amélie Le Renard and Johara Berriane for their comments and Jihan Akrawi, William Quiviger and Sally Sutton for their help during the preparation of the manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 The term ‘hybrid regimes’ refers to political systems situated in the grey zone in which the implementation of both democratic practices such as elections and the reinforcement of the central power can be observed (Diamond Citation2002, 21–35). In a recent article, Desrues (Citation2013) offers an analysis of the hybrid configuration of the Moroccan political regime.
2 The notion of makhzan has a very broad meaning. It ‘is closely associated with monarchy's inner circles of power. The notion has changed over time to mean coercive state apparatus, as well as the education, health care, administration and economic services the state provides’ (Maghraoui Citation2011, 698). This system is built upon a particular understanding of power that sees the king as the sole supplier of symbols of authority and the main architect of the dominant political culture (Tozy Citation1999, 42).
3 The former parties of the opposition are the Istiqlal, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) and the Progress and Socialism Party (PPS).
4 The campaign lasted 11 days, ending on 11 June 2009, the day before the polls. This research took place after I had completed 13 months of fieldwork (from 2006 to 2009) for my Ph.D. thesis, among 30 women who had managed to become leaders of local associations in several neighbourhoods of Casablanca.
5 The names used in this article are fictional. They were chosen in order to preserve the anonymity of the person.
6 The responsibilities of local representatives were particularly enlarged in the fields of local development in terms of social infrastructure, housing projects, the enhancement of local economy and taxation.
7 Unlike cities of less than 25,000 inhabitants in which the former first-past-the-post system was maintained.
8 Gender quotas have been introduced in several countries in the Arab world in the past decade such as Jordan, Egypt (abandoned in 2012), Morocco, Palestine, Mauritania, Sudan, Iraq and Tunisia.
9 Since 1997, the PJD has progressively imposed itself on the Moroccan political sphere as a moderate Islamist party and won the legislative elections in 2011. Its results in 2009 were very strong as it came in third in Casablanca and fifth nationally. As for the newly created PAM, it won the highest number of seats in 2009.
10 The RNI was created in 1978 by the brother-in-law of Hassan II. It is said to be a party of notables and is not particularly critical of the establishment. In 2009 it won the elections in Sana's district, coming in third nationally.
11 The UC was created in 1983. It is said to be liberal on economic and conservative on social issues. In Farida's district it won only one seat in 2009 and was seventh at the national level.
12 The PPS is the heir of the former Communist Party. Its representatives have been involved in Morocco's government since 1998. It used to be well represented in Habiba's district but in 2009 it faced a strong local PJD list.
13 I use the term ‘association' (jam‘iyya) here rather than non-governmental organisation because the distinction between most of these organisations and governmental institutions is rather indefinite. By association I mean registered organisations that fall under the 1958 Code of Public Liberties.
14 Other avenues include professions that offer daily contact with the population such as schoolteacher, nurse, doctor, wedding organiser, shop owner, etc.
15 Much less importance is attached to male candidates’ political competence. Whereas men are generally considered as being naturally suited to political office, women are perceived as naturally lacking the desired qualities and therefore, they need to do more to qualify. Similar observations were made, in Morocco, by Bouasria (forthcoming) in her study of the selection of female candidates during the legislative elections of 2011.
16 According to official estimations published in 2011, there were almost 45,000 associations in 2007 (Haut Commissariat au Plan Citation2011, 9).
17 As a matter of fact the king ‘has defined the INDH at several occasions as his own “revolution of the king and the people”, calling for an actualisation of the “symbiosis” between the throne and the population' (Bono Citation2010, 21–22).
18 Most of the local associations that I encountered during my fieldwork did not have access to international funding but can apply for funds offered by the state through programmes such as the INDH.