When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East: Iraq and Syria, 1946-63
An essential study of parliamentary politics in postwar Iraq and Syria, before the consolidation of authoritarian rule under the Ba’th Party

When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East
explores three main interrelated issues to clarify what happened between 1946 and 1963 in Iraq and Syria: how and why a parliamentary system prevailed in both countries in the aftermath of the Second World War; what social effects this system triggered, and, in turn, how these changes affected the system; and finally, why the elites in both countries were unable to overcome the unrest that brought an end to both a liberal era and to a certain kind of political game.

Drawing on a vast array of sources and rich archival research in French, English, and Arabic, Matthieu Rey highlights the processes of the parliamentary system in the modern era, which are very common to post-independence countries and to any representative regime. He tackles the intersection of multifaceted political phenomena that were present in that moment in Iraq and Syria, including regular elections, the implementation of emergency law, the freedom of the press, the open expression of opinions, the formation of new political parties, frequent military coups, and the joint exercise of power by members of the old classes and reformist newcomers.

Treating this period as neither an epilogue of the liberal order nor a prelude to authoritarianism, and stressing the contingent, improvisatory aspects of political history, Rey fundamentally questions the transitional nature of the period and in doing so proposes new ways and tools of examining it.

"1138808578"
When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East: Iraq and Syria, 1946-63
An essential study of parliamentary politics in postwar Iraq and Syria, before the consolidation of authoritarian rule under the Ba’th Party

When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East
explores three main interrelated issues to clarify what happened between 1946 and 1963 in Iraq and Syria: how and why a parliamentary system prevailed in both countries in the aftermath of the Second World War; what social effects this system triggered, and, in turn, how these changes affected the system; and finally, why the elites in both countries were unable to overcome the unrest that brought an end to both a liberal era and to a certain kind of political game.

Drawing on a vast array of sources and rich archival research in French, English, and Arabic, Matthieu Rey highlights the processes of the parliamentary system in the modern era, which are very common to post-independence countries and to any representative regime. He tackles the intersection of multifaceted political phenomena that were present in that moment in Iraq and Syria, including regular elections, the implementation of emergency law, the freedom of the press, the open expression of opinions, the formation of new political parties, frequent military coups, and the joint exercise of power by members of the old classes and reformist newcomers.

Treating this period as neither an epilogue of the liberal order nor a prelude to authoritarianism, and stressing the contingent, improvisatory aspects of political history, Rey fundamentally questions the transitional nature of the period and in doing so proposes new ways and tools of examining it.

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When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East: Iraq and Syria, 1946-63

When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East: Iraq and Syria, 1946-63

by Matthieu Rey
When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East: Iraq and Syria, 1946-63

When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East: Iraq and Syria, 1946-63

by Matthieu Rey

Hardcover

$79.95 
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Overview

An essential study of parliamentary politics in postwar Iraq and Syria, before the consolidation of authoritarian rule under the Ba’th Party

When Parliaments Ruled the Middle East
explores three main interrelated issues to clarify what happened between 1946 and 1963 in Iraq and Syria: how and why a parliamentary system prevailed in both countries in the aftermath of the Second World War; what social effects this system triggered, and, in turn, how these changes affected the system; and finally, why the elites in both countries were unable to overcome the unrest that brought an end to both a liberal era and to a certain kind of political game.

Drawing on a vast array of sources and rich archival research in French, English, and Arabic, Matthieu Rey highlights the processes of the parliamentary system in the modern era, which are very common to post-independence countries and to any representative regime. He tackles the intersection of multifaceted political phenomena that were present in that moment in Iraq and Syria, including regular elections, the implementation of emergency law, the freedom of the press, the open expression of opinions, the formation of new political parties, frequent military coups, and the joint exercise of power by members of the old classes and reformist newcomers.

Treating this period as neither an epilogue of the liberal order nor a prelude to authoritarianism, and stressing the contingent, improvisatory aspects of political history, Rey fundamentally questions the transitional nature of the period and in doing so proposes new ways and tools of examining it.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781649031167
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press, The
Publication date: 04/05/2022
Pages: 344
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Matthieu Rey is director of contemporary studies at the Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO), Beirut, and a CNRS researcher specializing in contemporary Middle Eastern history, with a special focus on Syria’s and Iraq’s political systems. He is also an associate researcher at the Collège de France and the Wits History Workshop. He obtained his PhD from the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHSS), Collège de France in 2013. His research interests include state-building and policymaking in the contemporary Middle East and Southern Africa. He is the author of Histoire de la Syrie XIX–XXIe siècle (A History of Syria, 19th–21st centuries, 2018).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Timeline of Key Events

 

Introduction

1: The Ottoman and Mandate Roots of the Parliamentary System

The Advent of the Parliamentary System in the Ottoman Empire 1908–18: An Imperial Parliamentary System

Inventing New States (1920–46)

2: Experimenting with the Parliamentary System, 1946–49

Za‘ama and the Parliamentary System Establishing Real Sovereignty

The 1947 Elections

1948: Calling into Question the Parliamentary Experiment

3: Reform and Change: The Parliamentary System in Iraq and Syria, 1949–54 Rearranging the Parliamentary Systems

The Impact of International Relationships Reforming the Country

Putting the Authoritarian Pact in Jeopardy

4: Two New Formulas for the Parliamentary System, 1954–58 The Heydays of the Parliaments

Legislative Enterprises: Reshaping Society and the Economy

Adopting Cold War Vocabulary and the Polarization of the Assemblies 5: The Epilogue to the Parliamentary System

Establishing a True Constitutional Order? The End of the Parliamentary System

6: The End of the Post-Ottoman Era

 

 

Appendices

1: Thematic Discussions in the January 1955 Session 2: Parliamentary Activity

Notes Bibliography

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