Tunisia’s Institutional Change after the Revolution: Politics, Institutions and Change Agents

Luigi Cino

doi:10.22151/politikon.43.2

Authors

Luigi Cino Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22151/politikon.43.2

Keywords:

Gradual Change, Institutional Change, New Institutionalism, Tunisia, Tunisian Revolution

Abstract

The Arab Uprisings started with the Tunisian revolution. These events brought the country to profound change, especially in its institutional asset. Relying on New Institutionalism theory and in particular on the Gradual Change Theory by Mahoney and Thelen, this paper analyses three fundamental dimensions of institutional change in order to establish which type of institutional change has occurred in post-revolution Tunisia. The paper looks at the characteristics of the institutions, the characteristics of the political context and the type of dominant change agent to determine the type of institutional change. In Tunisia, a low level of discretion in the interpretation of norms and rules, weak veto possibilities for the former regime supporters and an insurrection type of dominant change agent have resulted in a so-called “displacement” type of institutional change, where the removal of old rules is accompanied by the introduction of new ones.

Author Biography

Luigi Cino, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa

Luigi Cino studied Political Science at the University of Florence, International Relations at LUISS University (Rome), and European Studies at the College of Europe. He also studied in Morocco and Spain and has been visiting scholar at the Centre de la Méditerranée Moderne et Contemporaine of the University of Nice (France). E-mail: luigi.cino@santannapisa.it.

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