POLITICAL REFORM IN JORDAN: Reality and Aspirations (original) (raw)

Political reforms in Jordan following the events of the Arab Spring

RUDN Journal of Public Administration, 2019

Following the events of the Arab Spring and the popular protests that broke out in some countries in the Arab world in 2011, including Jordan, extended political reforms were carried out in Jordan, including major constitutional amendments and developments in political life, political parties and civil society institutions. The study aims to identify the reality of the political reform process in Jordan that took place after the events of the Arab Spring. The importance of the study stems from the depth of the effects of the variables of this period on Jordan and its reform programs and its transformations towards democracy. The study aims to achieve the following objectives: To identify the nature of the factors and reasons that contributed to the outbreak of the current Arab revolutions, and identifying the reality of the process of political reform in Jordan before the events of the Arab Spring, and to study and analyze the political reforms in Jordan after the events of the Arab ...

Constitutional Reforms in Jordan: A Critical Analysis

This study aims to shed light on the experience of the Jordanian constitutional reforms during the era of King Abdullah II and the Arab Spring. Moreover, this study provides a comprehensive and integrated view of these vital reforms and the democratic process in Jordan. With due consideration to the fact that the constitution represents the backbone of any political regime, constitutional developments in Jordan have been reviewed since the first Jordanian Constitution was drafted in 1928. By analyzing the most recent constitutional amendments, we identify the main features of these amendments as well as their strengths and weaknesses, potential for success or risk of failure, and the positive and negative reactions thereto. This study provides a summary and recommendation, notably, the need for further constitutional amendments to consolidate the process of reform and democracy in Jordan.

Jordan: The New Constitutional Amendments after the Arab Spring and the Myth of Parliamentary Government

Advances in Sociology Research, 2024

This chapter seeks to explore the impact of the new constitutional amendments implemented after the Arab Spring, on the opportunity of establishing a parliamentary government, and questioning its application in the Jordanian context. The Jordanian constitution issued in 1952, with its amendments, focused most of the powers in the hands of the king. The king is the pivot and anchor of the political structure in Jordan. He is the heart that moves all members of the Jordanian political body and its institutions and the mastermind of every small or big movement. Coming from his symbolic and constitutional status, constitutionally, the king enjoys broad powers that make him take control of all state affairs and its joints. He is directly concerned with the Jordanian political decisionmaking, and he is the one who distributes the political and material benefits to the political elites and individuals. Despite this level of power, there have been attempts further to strengthen the actual capacity of the king of Jordan. Following a series of constitutional amendments since 2014, the features of the monarchy in the Jordanian constitution as a political system have transformed from a constitutional monarchy into something closer to that of an absolute monarchy, in which the king controls all the levers of internal and external political action. This chapter argues that the new constitutional amendments increase thepowers of the king over the general jurisdiction of the government, the people, and parliament, violates the basics of democracy, and has turned Jordan into an absolute monarchy.

Jordan: The Ruse of Reform

Journal of Democracy, 2013

Why has Jordan’s authoritarianism remained so stubborn? What makes the country’s Hashemite monarchy exceptional is that virtually no constituency apart from domestic oppositionists and international human-rights organizations puts consistent pressure on the kingdom to democratize. Western policy makers and Jordanian officials have successfully cultivated the kingdom’s image as a “moderate” Arab state, an oasis of stability and key ally in the world’s most strategic and turbulent region. Foreign aid from the United States and its allies remains the kingdom’s economic lifeline, and thus the best means by which to encourage the regime to actually take popular demands into account in its next reform gambit. With stability on the line, the next five years will prove to be the crucible for the Jordanian crown.

Jordan The New Constitutional Amendments

Advances in Sociology Research, 2024

This chapter seeks to explore the impact of the new constitutional amendments implemented after the Arab Spring, on the opportunity of establishing a parliamentary government, and questioning its application in the Jordanian context. The Jordanian constitution issued in 1952, with its amendments, focused most of the powers in the hands of the king. The king is the pivot and anchor of the political structure in Jordan. He is the heart that moves all members of the Jordanian political body and its institutions and the mastermind of every small or big movement. Coming from his symbolic and constitutional status, constitutionally, the king enjoys broad powers that make him take control of all state affairs and its joints. He is directly concerned with the Jordanian political decisionmaking, and he is the one who distributes the political and material benefits to the political elites and individuals. Despite this level of power, there have been attempts further to strengthen the actual capacity of the king of Jordan. Following a series of constitutional amendments since 2014, the features of the monarchy in the Jordanian constitution as a political system have transformed from a constitutional monarchy into something closer to that of an absolute monarchy, in which the king controls all the levers of internal and external political action. This chapter argues that the new constitutional amendments increase the powers of the king over the general jurisdiction of the government, the people, and parliament, violates the basics of democracy, and has turned Jordan into an absolute monarchy.