The State of Democracy in North Africa

By Mireille Rebeiz, PhD.

Beginning 2010 and 2011, pro-democracy protests engulfed North Africa, starting in Tunisia and spreading into Libya and Egypt. The demonstrators – mostly composed of youth and women – challenged authoritarian regimes in the region demanding the recognition of their basic human rights and the implementation of democratic values. This “Arab Spring” brought some changes with the ousting of dictators like Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. However, overall, it did not lead to significant changes to the regimes in place as it was met with police brutality and violence from pro-government militias and military.

Today, the demand for democracy remains high. Human rights defenders continue to push for clean and fair elections, free speech, civil liberties and equal rights, independence of the judiciary and an impartial administration free of corruption. Despite these honorable efforts and since the Arab Spring, the state of democracy in North Africa continues to swing between weak democracies and authoritarian regimes. The erosion of democracy across the region was particularly noted during the pandemic with the implementation of drastic measures such as curfews used to crush critics of public officials. Corruption is pervasive at all levels of government, and anti-corruption laws are often ineffective or hard to implement. Government and military are known to pressure the judiciary in its decision-making.

This is an excerpt from our State of Democracy in Africa 2024 Report. Read the North Africa chapter here.

Read the full report here.