Publication Date

Fall 2025

Abstract

This paper examines how the adoption of Western political system models has contributed to democratic backsliding in Tunisia following the 2011 Jasmine Revolution. While Tunisia was internationally celebrated as a democratic success story, this research interrogates the gap between institutional performance and popular legitimacy, drawing on a student survey and a qualitative interview with a civil society organization (CSO) leader. The findings suggest that democratic backslide in Tunisia cannot be reduced to authoritarian ambition alone, but must be understood as a response to institutional systems that failed to deliver stability, economic security, or meaningful participation. Respondents consistently prioritized material conditions and responsive governance over political pluralism, revealing how Western-derived democratic frameworks, though procedurally sound, often felt distant and ineffective. The rise of populist leadership and the consolidation of executive power under President Kais Saied are examined not as anomalies, but as outcomes made possible by public disillusionment with post-2011 governance. Rather than rejecting democracy as an ideal, respondents articulated a desire for systems that blur the line between elites and the public, expand access to decision-making, and ground legitimacy in lived experience rather than abstract models. This paper argues that democratic backsliding in Tunisia reflects the misapplication of Western political infrastructures within a postcolonial context – systems historically designed to manage rather than empower. Tunisia’s trajectory challenges dominant narratives of democratization in the Global South and calls for a reimagining of democracy rooted in participation, accountability, and local political realities.

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Social and Behavioral Sciences

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