Political Parties, Voting Behaviour, and Elections in the Middle East and North Africa

1. The functions of political parties

Required readings:

• Michael Willis (2002). ‘Political parties in the Maghrib: the Illusion of significance?’ The Journal of North African Studies 7(2): 1–22
• Ray Hinnebusch, Francesco Cavatorta, and Lise Storm (2020). ‘Political parties in the MENA: an Introduction.’ In Francesco Cavatorta, Lise Storm and Valeria Resta (eds.) Political Parties in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge.
• Siavush Randjbar-Daemi, Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, and Lauren Banko (2017). ‘Introduction to political parties in the Middle East: historical trajectories and future prospects.’ British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 44 (2): 155–158.

Optional readings

• Valeria Resta and Francesco Cavatorta (2023). ‘Political Parties in the Maghreb.’ In George Joffé (ed.) Handbook of the Modern Maghrib. London: Routledge.
• Abduljaber, M., Onder, M. and Aljadaan, R. (2025). ‘Perceptions of Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa.’ Journal of International Studies 18(1): 60-80.

2. Party politics, elections and voting behaviour in authoritarian systems

Required readings:

• Jennifier Gandhi and Ellen Lust-Okar (2009). ‘Elections under authoritarianism.’ Annual Review of Political Science 12: 403-422.
• Matt Buehler and Calista Boyd (2023). ‘The Functions of Authoritarian Elections: Symbolism, safety valves, and clientelism.’ In Francesco Cavatorta and Valeria Resta (eds.) Handbook on elections in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge.
• Valeria Resta (2023). ‘The rationality of Arab Voters: why and how people vote in non-democratic regimes across the MENA region.’ In Francesco Cavatorta and Valeria Resta (eds.) Handbook on elections in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge.

Optional readings:

• Ellen Lust (2006). ‘Elections under authoritarianism: Preliminary lessons from Jordan.’ Democratization 13 (6): 456-471.
• Andreas Schedler (2002). ‘Elections without democracy: the menu of manipulation.’ Journal of Democracy, 13(2): 36-50.
• Valeria Resta and Mohamed Daadaoui (2023). ‘Multiparty Coalition Governments, Portfolio Allocation and Ministerial Turnover in Morocco and Algeria.’ Middle East Law and Governance 15 (3): 369-397. 

3. Party politics, elections, and voting behaviour in democratic systems

Required readings:

• Kristina Kausch (2012). ‘Political parties in young Arab democracies’, FRIDE Policy Brief, no. 130.
• Daniel Corstange (2012). ‘Vote trafficking in Lebanon.’ International Journal of Middle East Studies 44(3): 483-505.
• Renad Mansour (2025). ‘Iraq elections 2025: How votes are won and what the results could mean for Iraq’s fragile stability.’ Available at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2025/10/iraq-elections-2025-how-votes-are-won-and-what-results-could-mean-iraqs-fragile-stability

4. Party families: Islamist parties

 Required readings:

• Jillian Schwedler (2011). ‘Can Islamists become moderates?’ World Politics 63 (2): 347-376
• Khalil al-Anani (2012). ‘Islamist parties post-Arab Spring’, Mediterranean Politics 17(3): 466-472
• Sharan Grewal, Amaney A. Jamal, Tarek Masoud, and Elizabeth R. Nugent (2019). ‘Poverty and Divine Rewards: The Electoral Advantage of Islamist Political Parties.’ American Journal of Political Science 63 (4): 859–74.

·     Optional readings: 

• Tarek Masoud (2008). ‘Are they democrats? Does it matter?’ Journal of Democracy 19 (3): 19-24.
• Francesco Cavatorta and Fabio Merone (2013). ‘Moderation through exclusion? The journey of the Tunisian Ennahda from fundamentalist to conservative party.’ Democratization 20 (5): 857-875.
• F. Michael Wuthrich and Sabri Ciftci (2022). ‘Islamist parties, intraparty organizational dynamics, and moderation as strategic behaviour.’ Mediterranean Politics 27(3): 321-343.
• Charles Kurzman and Didem Turkoglu (2015). ‘Do Muslims vote Islamic now?’ Journal of Democracy 26(4): 100-109.

5. Party families: Salafi parties

Required readings:

• Quintan Wiktorowicz (2006). ‘Anatomy of the Salafi movement.’ Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 29(3): 207-239.
• Stéphane Lacroix (2012). Sheikhs and Politicians: Inside the New Egyptian Salafism. [Research Report] Brookings Institution.
• Steve Monroe (2012). ‘Salafis in Parliament: Democratic Attitudes and Party Politics in the Gulf.’ The Middle East Journal 66(3): 409–424.

Optional readings:

• Khalil al-Anani and Maszlee Malik (2013). ‘Pious Way to Politics: The Rise of Political Salafism in Post-Mubarak Egypt.’ Digest of Middle East Studies 22(1): 57-73.

6. Party families: leftist parties

Required readings:

• Idriss Jebari (2020). ‘The Rise and Fall of the Arab Left.’ In Francesco Cavatorta, Lise Storm and Valeria Resta (eds.) Political Parties in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge. 
• Mounia Bennani-Chraïbi, Mounia (2022). ‘Abderrahmane Youssoufi: an embodiment of the mutations of the Moroccan left.’ The Journal of North African Studies 27 (5): 894–927.

Optional readings:

• Kalfat, K. (2014). Mapping of the Arab Left. Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. Available at: https://www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/sonst_publikationen/Mapping_of_the_Arab_left_Tunisia_en.pdf 
• Gamze Cavdar and Francesco Cavatorta (2023). ‘Research Symposium: Left-Wing Politics in the Middle East and North Africa.’ APSA-MENA Newsletter 6 (3): 55-64.
• Toby Matthiesen (2020). ‘The Cold War and the Communist Party of Saudi Arabia, 1975-1991.’ Journal of Cold War Studies 22(3): 32-62. 
• Khalil Dahbi (2023). ‘Relevance and electoralism in the study of political oppositions: the case of Morocco’s radical left.’ Democratization. Available at: https://www-tandfonline-com.acces.bibl.ulaval.ca/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2023.2221894

7. Political parties and gender

Required readings:

• Lindsey Benstead (2020). ‘Women in Arab political parties.’ in Francesco Cavatorta, Lise Storm and Valeria Resta (eds.) Political Parties in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge, 2020.
• Kristen Kao and Lindsey Benstead (2021). ‘Female electability in the Arab world’, Comparative Politics 53(3): 427-451.
• Alexandra Domike Blackman and Marlette Jackson (2021). ‘Gender Stereotypes, Political Leadership, and Voting Behavior in Tunisia.’ Political Behaviour 43: 1037–1066.

Optional readings:

• Charles Kurzman and Ijlal Naqvi (2010). ‘Do Muslims vote Islamic.’ Journal of Democracy 21(2): 50-63.
• Michael Robbins (2017). ‘Youth, Religion and Democracy after the Arab Uprisings. The Muslim World 107 (1): 100-126.
• Lindasy Benstead. (2024). Do Islamist Parties Reach More Women? Party Institutionalization and Constituency Service in Algeria. The Journal of the Middle East and Africa 15 (2): 197–214.
• Meriem Aissa (2023). ‘Gender Quotas, Constituency service and women’s Empowerment: Lessons from Algeria. In Francesco Cavatorta and Valeria Resta (eds.) Handbook on elections in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge.
• Gianni Del Panta, “The workers and the left are not one hand: insights from Algeria”, in Francesco Cavatorta, Lise Storm and Valeria Resta (eds.) Political Parties in the Middle East and North Africa, Routledge, 2020.

8. Party platforms: what do parties want?

Required readings:

• Eva Wegner and Francesco Cavatorta (2019). ‘Revisiting the Islamist-Secular divide: Parties and Voters in the Arab World.’ International Political Science Review 40 (4): 558-575.
• Abdullah Aydogan (2021). ‘Party systems and ideological cleavages in the Middle East and North Africa.’ Party Politics 27(4): 814-826.
• Francesco Cavatorta and Samir Amghar (2020). ‘Beyond quietism: party institutionalization, Salafism and the economy.’ Politics & Religion 13 (4).

Optional Readings:

• Paride Turlione (2023), ‘Pre-electoral coalitions in Iraq.’ In In Francesco Cavatorta and Valeria Resta (eds.) Handbook on elections in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge.
• Valeria Resta and Francesco Cavatorta (2023). ‘Salafi politics amid the chaos: revolution at home and revolution abroad?’ In Samer Shehata (ed.) The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21^st Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

9.  Party politics in Israeli and Palestinian elections

Required readings:

• Maoz Rosenthal (2023). ‘Israel’s electoral system and political instability.’ In Francesco Cavatorta and Valeria Resta (eds.) Handbook on elections in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge.
• Rui Zur and Ryan Bakker (2023). ‘The Israeli parties’ positions in comparative perspective.’ Party Politics 31(2): 323-334.
• Salih Biçakci (2007). ‘The Palestinian parliamentary legislative elections 25 January 2006.’ Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans 9(1): 65–78.

Optional readings:

• Sawsan Khalife (2023). ‘Consequences of the Arab Palestinian parties’ quest for power in Israeli politics on Arab voters.’ In Francesco Cavatorta and Valeria Resta (eds.) Handbook on elections in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Routledge. 
• Graham Usher (2006). ‘The democratic resistance: Hamas, Fatah and the Palestinian Elections.’ Journal of Palestine Studies 35(3): 20-36.