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https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.43.2018.4.98-112
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Elites and Revolution: Political Relegation and Reintegration of Former Senior Government Officials in Tunisia
Eliten und Revolution: Politische Relegation und Reintegration von ehemaligen hohen Regierungsbeamten in Tunesien
[journal article]
Abstract What happens to the state elite of an authoritarian regime after its collapse? This article proposes an answer by examining the Tunisian case after the fall of Ben Ali’s regime in 2011. Based on a corpus of in-depth interviews with sixty or so ex-politicians or civil servants, the article starts by ... view more
What happens to the state elite of an authoritarian regime after its collapse? This article proposes an answer by examining the Tunisian case after the fall of Ben Ali’s regime in 2011. Based on a corpus of in-depth interviews with sixty or so ex-politicians or civil servants, the article starts by describing the collapse of the regime in terms of the experience and perceptions of some of those who had served it. This is not presented as a series of institutional and political events linked up in a homogenous and unidirectional process, but rather as a variety of individual experiences, each unique. The fall of the regime thereby emerges as a concrete experience of political relegation, documented in precise detail by the accounts given of it. Analyzing this experience provides a way of testing several hypotheses regarding the post-revolutionary careers of former senior officials, stressing just how complex and diverse the paths are for reintegrating the political class.... view less
Keywords
downward occupational mobility; democratization; political change; Tunisia; Arab countries; transition; reintegration; revolution; career; political elite; North Africa
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
political parties; Arab Spring
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 98-112
Journal
Historical Social Research, 43 (2018) 4
Issue topic
Challenged Elites - Elites as Challengers: The Impact of Civil Activism, Populism and the Economic Crisis on Elite Structures, Orientations and Agendas
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed