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Abstract
This article focuses on a specific aspect of the international context surrounding the Tunisian transition to democracy. Through the case of the German political foundations in Tunisia, this study argues that the country’s journey to democracy has not been an exclusively domestic affair, but has also been the product of the engagement of international actors and their interplay with domestic groups. Building on evidence from semi-structured interviews and data triangulation the article shows that since the late 1980s four German political foundations operating in Tunisia created platforms for ‘political debate’ – alternative to the regime’s but not subversive – and encouraged political training. The article posits that initially the German political foundations helped Ben Ali’s regime in the making of a ‘façade liberalisation’, while in the long run their activities generated unintended consequences that in part undermined its ‘authoritarianism upgraded’. The article demonstrates that their longstanding presence on the ground allowed the German political foundations to develop patterns of trust with and between political and civil groups, ultimately improving the capacity of their action after the revolution.
List of Acronyms
| AFTURD | = | Association des Femmes Tunisiennes pour la Recherche sur le Développement |
| AMT | = | Association des Magistrats Tunisiens |
| ARFORGHE | = | Association des Responsables de Formation et de Gestion Humaine dans les Entreprises |
| ATFD | = | Association Tunisienne de Femmes Démocrates |
| ATIDE | = | Association Tunisienne pour l’intégrité de la Démocratie des Elections |
| ATUGE | = | Association des Tunisiens Diplômés des Grandes Écoles |
| CAPJC | = | Centre Africain de Perfectionnement des Journalistes et Communicateurs |
| CFAD | = | Centre de Formation et d’Appui à la Décentralisation en Tunisie |
| CDU | = | Christlich Demokratische Union |
| ENA | = | École d’Administration Nationale |
| FDTL | = | Forum Démocratique pour le Travail et les Libertés |
| FES | = | Friedrich Ebert Stiftung |
| FNS | = | Friedrich Naumann Stiftung |
| FOAP | = | Forum de l’Académie Politique |
| KAS | = | Konrad Adenauer Stiftung |
| IACE | = | Institut Arabe des Chefs d’Entreprises |
| IPSI | = | Institut de Presse and Science informatique |
| GIZ | = | Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit |
| HBS | = | Heinrich Böll Stiftung |
| HSS | = | Hanns Seidel Stiftung |
| LTDH | = | Ligue Tunisienne des Droits de l’Homme |
| MENA | = | Middle East and North Africa |
| NGO | = | Non Governmental Organization |
| PSD | = | Parti Socialiste Destourien |
| ONAT | = | Ordre National des Avocats |
| SPD | = | Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands |
| RLS | = | Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung |
| RCD | = | Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique |
| UGTT | = | Union Générale des Travailleurs Tunisiens |
| UTICA | = | Union Tunisienne de l’Industrie, le Commerce et L’Artisanat |
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Francesco Cavatorta, Monique C. Cardinal and Nidhal Mekki for their comments on the earlier versions of this manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
Notes
1 See for instance: P. Schraeder and H. Redissi, ‘Ben Ali’s Fall’, Journal of Democracy Vol.22.3 (2011), pp.5-19. See also F. Cavatorta and R. H. Haugbølle, ‘The End of Authoritarian Rule and the Mythology of Tunisia Under Ben Ali’, Mediterranean Politics Vol.17.2 (2012), pp.179-95; and E. Gobe, ‘The Tunisian Bar to the Test of Authoritarianism: Professional and Political Movements in Ben Ali’s Tunisia (1990–2007)’, The Journal of North African Studies Vol.15.3 (2010), pp.333-47.
2 A. Wolf, ‘“Dégage RCD!” The Rise of Internal Dissent in Ben Ali’s Constitutional Democratic Rally and the Tunisian Uprisings’, Mediterranean Politics Vol.23.2 (2018), pp.245-64.
3 On the process of reconciliation between Islamists and secularists, see A. Stepan, ‘Tunisia’s Transition and the Twin Tolerations’, Journal of Democracy Vol.23.2 (2012), pp.89-103. K. Netterstrøm, ‘The Islamists’ Compromise in Tunisia’, Journal of Democracy Vol.26.4 (2015), pp.110-24; R. McCarthy, ‘Protecting the Sacred: Tunisia’s Islamist Movement Ennahdha and the Challenge of Free Speech’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Vol.42.4 (2015), pp.447-64. See also A. Boubekeur ‘Islamists, Secularists and Old Regime Elites in Tunisia: Bargained Competition’, Mediterranean Politics Vol.21.1 (2016), pp.107-27; P. Marzo, ‘Critical Junctures, Path Dependence and Al-Nahda’s Contribution to the Tunisian Transition to Democracy’, The Journal of North African Studies (2018). DOI:10.1080/13629387.2018.1480943.
4 See E. Murphy, ‘The Tunisian Elections of October 2011: A Democratic Consensus’, The Journal of North African Studies Vol.18.2 (2013), pp.231-47; A. P. Martin, ‘Do Tunisian Secular Civil Society Organisations Demonstrate a Process of Democratic Learning?’, The Journal of North African Studies Vol.20.5 (2015), pp.797-812; K. Netterstrøm, ‘The Tunisian General Labor Union and the Advent of Democracy’, The Middle East Journal Vol.70.3 (2016), pp.383-98.
5 J. N. C. Hill. Democratisation in the Maghreb (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016).
6 T. Abderrahim, L. T. Krüger, S. Besbes and K. McLarren (eds), Tunisia’s International Relations Since the ‘Arab Spring’: Transition Inside and Out (London: Routledge, 2017).
7 G. Pridham (ed.) Encouraging Democracy: The International Context of Regime Transition in Southern Europe (New York: St. Martin’s Press 1991).
8 F. Cavatorta, ‘Geopolitical Challenges to the Success of Democracy in North Africa: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco’, Democratization Vol.8.4 (2001), pp.175-94.
9 M. Keck and K Sikkink, ‘Transnational Advocacy Networks in International and Regional Politics’, International Social Science Journal Vol.51.159 (1999), pp.89-101.
10 J. Haynes, ‘Transnational Religious Actors and International Politics’, Third World Quarterly Vol.22.2 (2001), pp.143-58.
11 The German political foundations on Tunisian soil before the revolution are: the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung established in Tunisia since 1982 (KAS), which is associated with Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU); the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), established in Tunisia since 1970, which is associated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD); the Friedrich Neumann Stiftung, established in Tunisia since 1964 which is associated with the Free Democratic Party, FDP; the Hanns Seidel Foundations, established in Tunisia since 1989, which is associated with the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU).
12 S. Heydemann, Upgrading Authoritarianism in the Arab World, Analysis Paper 13 (Washington, DC: Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, 2007).
13 L. Sadiki, ‘Political Liberalization in Bin Ali’s Tunisia: Facade Democracy’, Democratization Vol.9.4 (2002), pp.122-41.
14 S. P. Huntington, ‘Democracy’s Third Wave’, Journal of Democracy Vol.2.2 (1991), pp.12-34.
15 On this topic, see L. Whitehead, ‘Losing “the Force”? The Dark Side of Democratization After Iraq’, Democratization Vol.16.2 (2009), pp.215-42.
16 A. Tovias, ‘The International Context of Democratic Transition’, West European Politics Vol.7.2 (1984), pp.158-171; W. C. Opello Jr, ‘Portugal: A Case Study of International Determinants of Regime Transition’, in G. Pridham (ed.), Encouraging Democracy: The International Context of Regime Transition in Southern Europe (Leicester: Burns & Oates 1991), pp.84-102.
17 L. Whitehead (ed.), The International Dimensions of Democratization: Europe and the Americas (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).
18 Huntington, ‘Democracy’s Third Wave’.
19 D. C. Shin, ‘On the Third Wave of Democratization: A Synthesis and Evaluation of Recent Theory and Research’, World Politics Vol.47.1 (1994), pp.135-70.
20 G. Pridham, ‘The International Dimension of Democratization: Theory, Practice, and Inter-regional Comparisons’, in G. Pridham, E. Herring, and G. Sanford (eds), Building Democracy? The International Dimension of Democratization in Eastern Europe (New York: St. Martin’s Press 1994), pp.7-31.
21 L. Whitehead, The International Dimensions of Democratization.
22 D. Beetham, ‘The Contradictions of Democratization by Force: The Case of Iraq’, Democratization Vol.16.3 (2009), pp.443-54.
23 P. Schmitter, ‘The Influence of the International Context Upon the Choice of National Institutions and Policies in Neo-democracies’, in L. Whitehead (ed.), The International Dimensions of Democratization, pp.26-54.
24 J. Haynes, ‘Transnational Religious Actors and International Politics’, Third World Quarterly Vol.22.2 (2001), pp.143-58.
25 H. Yilmaz, ‘External-internal Linkages in Democratization: Developing an Open Model of Democratic Change’, Democratization Vol.9.2 (2002), pp.67-84.
26 J. Haynes (ed.), Democracy and Political Change in the Third World (Abingdon: Routledge, 2003); F. Cavatorta, ‘The International Context of Morocco’s Stalled Democratization’, Democratization Vol.12.4 (2005), pp.548-66; F. Cavatorta. The International Dimension of the Failed Algerian Transition: Democracy Betrayed? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009); S. Levitsky and L. A. Way, Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War (Boston. MA: Cambridge University Press, 2010).
27 Levitsky and Way, Competitive Authoritarianism.
28 L. Sadiki, Rethinking Arab Democratization: Elections Without Democracy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p.152.
29 Ibid., p.147.
30 V. Durac and F. Cavatorta, ‘Strengthening Authoritarian Rule Through Democracy Promotion? Examining the Paradox of the US and EU Security Strategies: The Case of Bin Ali’s Tunisia’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Vol.36.1 (2009), pp.3-19.
31 J. Brownlee, Democracy Prevention: The Politics of the US-Egyptian Alliance (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012).
32 T. Risse and N. Babayan, ‘Democracy Promotion and the Challenges of Illiberal Regional Powers: Introduction to the Special Issue’, Democratization Vol.22.3 (2015), pp.381-99; V. Van Hüllen, EU Democracy Promotion and the Arab Spring: International Cooperation and Authoritarianism (Berlin: Springer, 2015).
33 Sadiki, Rethinking Arab Democratization.
34 L. M. Abbott, ‘International Democracy Promotion in the Middle East and North Africa’, Democratization Vol.25.1 (2018), pp.178-84.
35 A. Stepan and J. Linz, ‘Democratization Theory and the “Arab Spring”’, Journal of Democracy Vol.24.2 (2013), pp.15-30.
36 Ibid., p.23.
37 M. Camau, ‘Sociétés civiles “réelles” et téléologie de la démocratisation’, Revue internationale de politique comparée Vol.9.2 (2002), pp.213-32: 229.
38 Q. Wiktorowicz, ‘Civil Society as Social Control: State Power in Jordan’, Comparative Politics Vol.33.1, (2000), pp.43-61; A. A. Jamal, Barriers to Democracy: The Other Side of Social Capital in Palestine and the Arab world (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009).
39 B. Hibou, La force de l'obéissance: économie politique de la répression en Tunisie (Paris: La Découverte, 2006).
40 Stepan and Linz, ‘Democratization Theory and the “Arab Spring”’, p.28.
41 For instance, the 18 October coalition that gathered leaders from leftists, progressive and Islamist parties was an attempt to convey crosscutting disenchantment with the ruling elite, but their alignment was mainly centred on human and social rights rather than on political bargaining.
42 C. Sadowski, ‘Autonomous Groups as Agents of Democratic Change in Communist and Post-communist Eastern Europe’, in L. Diamond (ed.), Political Culture and Democracy in Developing Countries (London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994), p.98.
43 M. Pinto-Duschinsky, ‘Foreign Political Aid: The German Political Foundations and Their US Counterparts’, International Affairs Vol.67.1 (1991), pp.33-63.
44 K. Weissenbach, ‘Political Party Assistance in Transition: The German “Stiftungen” in sub-Saharan Africa’, Democratization Vol.17.6 (2010), pp.1225-49.
45 Contrary to political parties, the foundations are registered as charitable organisations and are almost exclusively financed through public funding. These come from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Foreign Office (AA) and the Bundestag.
46 D. Dakowska, ‘Les fondations politiques allemandes en Europe centrale’, Critique internationale Vol.3 (2004), pp.139-157.
47 Weissenbach, ‘Political Party Assistance in Transition’, p.1231.
48 M. Kurki, Democratic Futures: Revisioning Democracy Promotion. Intervention Series (London/New York: Routledge, 2013), p.179.
49 E. Murphy, Economic and Political Change in Tunisia: From Bourguiba to Ben Ali (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999).
50 Author’s interview with Heba Morayef, former regional officer of Human Rights Watch and current director of Amnesty International Tunisia office, Tunis, 22 May 2017.
51 Dakowska, ‘Les fondations politiques allemandes en Europe centrale’.
52 Author’s interview with Ralf Erber, Director of Friedrich Neumann, Tunisia office, Tunis, 5 July 2017.
53 ‘The aid given to Felipe Gonzalez in the I970s was not only to the credit of the Ebert foundation and the German Social Democrats, but arguably added to German prestige when he became the Spanish premier. In the I970s, the Foundation was closely involved with Daniel Ortega's Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Adenauer protected Eduardo Frei and Patricio Aylwin in Chile, Vinicio Cerezo in Guatemala, the late Jose Napoleon Duarte in El Salvador and Paul Semogerere in Uganda.’ In Pinto-Duschinsky, ‘Foreign Political Aid’, p.45.
54 For the history of KAS in the MENA see http://www.kas.de/wf/en/71.4789/. For the history of FES’s offices in the MENA region see http://www.fes-mena.org/fes-in-mena/offices-in-the-region/. For FNS’s history in MENA see http://fnst.org/content/middle-east-and-north-africa.
56 Stiftung is a German word that means foundation. From now on the article employs the English word foundation, but it maintains the abbreviation in the German for all the foundations: KAS, FES, FNS, HSS.
57 D. Brumberg, ‘The Trap of Liberalized Autocracy’, Journal of Democracy Vol.13.4 (2002), pp.56-68.
58 T. Pierret and K. Selvik, ‘Limits of “Authoritarian Upgrading” in Syria: Private Welfare, Islamic Charities, and the Rise of the Zayd Movement’, International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol.41.4 (2009), pp.595-614: 596.
59 R. H. Haugbølle and F. Cavatorta ‘“Vive la grande famille des médias tunisiens”: Media reform, Authoritarian Resilience and Societal Responses in Tunisia’, The Journal of North African Studies Vol.17.1 (2012), pp.97-112: 99.
60 The Socialist International (SI), officially created in 1951 is an international association of political parties, associated under the common goal of establish democratic socialism.
61 SPD officially meet RCD in Tunisia shortly before the revolution, highlighting peaceful relations and supporting the activities of FES. http://www.socialistinternational.org/images/dynamicImages/files/RCD%20Secretary-General%20receives%20delegation%20of%20German%20SPD%20for%20WEB.pdf.
62 On the argument, see the note of Socialist International about SPD critics. http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=2231
63 Author’s interview with Emil Leiner, Former Director of FES Tunis, Tunis, 20 May 2017.
64 S. Faath, S. Hegasy, V. Vinnai and A. Vogt, Herausforderungen in arabischen Staaten, Die Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung im Nahen Osten und in Nordafrika (Bonn: Dietz, 2016), p.311.
65 Author’s interview with Emil Leiner, Former Director of FES Tunis, Tunis, 20 May 2017.
66 Author’s interview with leading members of UGTT, LTDH, AFTD.
67 Author’s interview with Holger Dix, KAS Director Tunis, Tunis, 26 May 2017.
68 Author’s interview with the ATUGE head of office, Tunis, 1 August 2017.
69 ATUGE Members in the government are Mehdi Houas (Minister of Tourism and Handicraft), Mohamed Nouri Jouini (Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation), Afif Chelbi, (Minister of Industry and Technology), Yacine Ibrahim (Minister of Public Transport), Said Aydi, (Minister of Vocational Training and Employment), Zaoui Sami (Secretary of State), Elyes Jouini (Prime Minister’s advisor for Economy and Social Reform). In addition, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi was assisted by three additional advisors from ATUGE.
70 Author’s interview with Laura Sundermann HSS Scientific Coordinator for Tunisia, Tunis, 10 July 2017.
71 Ibid.
72 To have an idea about the topics of the HSS conference, see http://www.hssma.org/activities.cfm (accessed 30 November 2017).
73 Gobe, ‘The Tunisian Bar to the Test of Authoritarianism’, pp.334-5.
74 For an overview on the HSS partners, see http://www.hssma.org/partners.cfm (accessed 30 November 2017).
75 The foundation paid some of the employees’ salaries and supported the training programs.
76 Author’s interview with Ralf Erbel, FNS Director of Office for Tunisia and Libya, Tunis, 29 June 2017.
77 P. N. Howard and M. M. Hussain, Democracy’s Fourth Wave? Digital Media and the Arab Spring (Oxford University Press on Demand, 2013).
78 Faath, Hegasy, Vinnai and Vogt, Herausforderungen in arabischen Staaten.
79 However, FES is trying to arrange cooperation with the leftist Marxist party al-Badil.
80 Author’s interview with Simon Ilse, Director of Heinrich Böll Foundations, Tunis, 28 July 2017.
81 Other groups that are having fruitful relations within the spectrum of KAS partners are the Kawakibi democracy assistance transition Center, Forum de l'Academique Politique, UTICA and Centre des Jeunes Dirigents (CJD). KAS limits expertise on how to co-operate.
82 See for instance http://hssma.org/article.cfm?id=595 (accessed 30 November 2017).