title: The social contract: an analytical tool for countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and beyond
Creators: name: Loewe, Markus
name: Trautner, Bernhard
name: Zintl, Tina
Publisher: name: German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/01t3zke88
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Governance
subject: Security, peace and fragile states
subject: Middle East and North Africa

description: The social contract is a key concept in social science literature focusing on
 state–society relations. It refers to the "entirety of explicit or implicit agreements
 between all relevant societal groups and the sovereign (i.e. the government or any other
 actor in power), defining their rights and obligations towards each other" (Loewe
 &amp; Zintl, forthcoming). <br> The analysis of social contracts helps the
 understanding of: (i) why some societal groups are socially, politically or economically
 better off than others, (ii) why some revolt and demand a new social contract and, thus,
 (iii) why a country descends into violent conflict. In addition, the concept shows how
 foreign interventions and international co-operation may affect state–society relations by
 strengthening the position of the state or of specific societal groups. It illustrates
 that state fragility, displacement and migration can arise from social contracts becoming
 less inclusive. <br> Nevertheless, the term “social contract” has so far been neither
 well defined nor operationalised – to the detriment of both research and of bi- and
 multilateral co-operation. Such a structured analytical approach to state–society
 relations is badly needed both in research and in politics, in particular but not
 exclusively for the analysis of MENA countries. This briefing paper sets the frame,
 suggesting a close analysis of (i) the scope of social contracts, (ii) their substance and
 (iii) their temporal dimension. <br> After independence, MENA governments established a
 specific kind of social contract with citizens, mainly based on the redistribution of
 rents from natural resources, development aid and other forms of transfers. <br> They
 provided subsidised food and energy, free public education and government jobs to citizens
 in compensation for the tacit recognition of political regimes’ legitimacy despite a lack
 of political participation. But with growing populations and declining state revenues,
 some governments lost their ability to fulfil their duties and focused spending on
 strategically important social groups, increasingly tying resource provision to political
 acquiescence. <br> The uprisings that took place in many Arab countries in 2011 can be
 seen as an expression of deep dissatisfaction with social contracts that no longer
 provided either political participation or substantial social benefits (at least for large
 parts of the population). <br> After the uprisings, MENA countries developed in different
 directions. While Tunisia is a fair way towards more inclusive development and political
 participation, Morocco and Jordan are trying to restore some parts of the former social
 contract, providing for paternalistic distribution without substantial participation. In
 Egypt’s emerging social contract, the government promises little more than individual and
 collective security, and that only under the condition of full political acquiescence.
 Libya, Yemen and Syria have fallen into civil wars with no countrywide new contract in
 sight, and Iraq has been struggling for one since 2003. In addition, flight and migration
 also affect the social contracts of neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Turkey, and
 Lebanon. <br> All MENA countries are designing, or will need to design, new social
 contracts in order to reduce the current instability and enable physical reconstruction.
 This briefing paper informs on the status of conceptual considerations of social contract
 renegotiation in MENA countries and its meaning for international co-operation with them.
description: Briefing Paper, 17/2019