Coalition Governments and Multiparty Politics in the Middle East and North Africa

Description

This project explores a specific type of executive in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): the multiparty coalition government. Although mostly associated with fully-fledged democracies, coalition governments are no strangers in the region. Since the early 1990s, nearly 70 percent of MENA states featuring party pluralism have seen the formation of at least one, and in most cases multiple such coalition governments, including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, (Iraqi Kurdistan), Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Palestine and Yemen.

Shining light on a hitherto under-researched dimension of MENA governance, this project adopts a life cycle perspective to explore the workings of the region’s coalition governments, with a focus on key aspects of their formation, composition, performance, duration and durability. It hereby draws on, and fuses, broader (Western) theorizing on coalition governance with local case knowledge and context, offering not only novel insights into the functioning of MENA executives, but a broadening out of our empirical and theoretical understandings of such governments globally.

Publications and outputs

Key outputs of the project so far include:

1. A comprehensive database of coalition governments in the region publicly available through the University of Leeds Research Data Repository. The database covers a total of 60 multiparty coalition governments formed in the countries of the MENA between 1990 and 2025. It includes coalition events in Algeria, Iraq, (Iraqi Kurdistan), Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. Amongst others, the database comprises information on coalition start/end dates, duration in days, periods of caretaker governance, coalition size, ideological composition and causes for coalition termination. The database can be accessed through https://doi.org/10.5518/1291.
2. A journal article examining coalition formation and duration in the MENA, co-authored with Francesco Cavatorta. The article is entitled “Multiparty Cabinets and Coalition Governance in the Arab Middle East and North Africa” and published in Middle East Law and Governance 15.3 (2023): 320-344. Available at: https://brill.com/view/journals/melg/15/3/article-p320_004.xml
3. A Special Issue on Multiparty Coalition Governments in the Arab World, containing a range of case studies on issues pertaining to coalition government formation, composition and durability. The Special Issue is published in Middle East Law and Governance 15.3 and available at: https://brill.com/view/journals/melg/15/3/melg.15.issue-3.xml

The project team are currently working on a book manuscript exploring the lifecyle of coalition governments in the MENA region combining large-N comparative research with in-depth case studies. The book is under contract with EUP and expected for publication in 2027/28.

Middle East Law and Governance produced a podcast on the topic, interviewing Prof Cavatorta and Dr Kraetzschmar on the genesis of the special issue and on some key themes emerging from their research into coalition governance in the region. The podcast is available at: https://soundcloud.com/user-657363958/episode-21-coalition-governments-in-the-mena-with-dr-francesco-cavatorta-dr-hendrik-kraetzschmar