Report

A Long-Lasting Controversy: Western Democracy Promotion in Jordan

May 2009

Abstract

This report – a follow-up to a previous EuroMeSCo pilot study on Morocco – examines how Western democracy promotion efforts are perceived in a key Middle Eastern country, namely Jordan. Jordan is one of the countries of the region that has received the most democracy assistance in recent years. It is also considered a regional “test case” for democracy given its comparatively open society and the stated reformist intentions of its leadership. The focus of the study is on whether democracy promotion is perceived as legitimate and credible in Jordan. The report examines the degree of legitimacy and credibility of democracy promotion policies by focusing on the perceptions of Jordanians who directly or indirectly get in contact with such efforts – parliamentarians, journalists, politicians, scholars and analysts, representatives of the judiciary and of civil society organisations and so-called quasi-NGOs.

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