Abstract
At the end of the Cold war, the political models of modernization different from democracy were totally discredited. Democracy, defined by Ghassan Salamé as an ‘arrangement institutionnnel qui permet de garantir la participation des citoyens au choix de leurs dirigeants par la voie électorale', was considered as a universal model. As the ex-communist countries of Eastern Europe adopted democratic institutions, it was thought that the Arab world would realize its democratic transition as well. Nevertheless, as they remained essentially authoritarian states, the Arab countries appeared as a kind of ‘exception' to democratization in the world. Thus, the idea that the Arab-Muslim world was opposed to democracy emerged. Despite this apparently resistance, democracy is a notion which is occupying today a more and more important place in the political discourses in the Arab world. Furthermore, several Arab countries such as Yemen, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, etc., developed relative democratic practices. As a result, we can wonder if the Arab world is really an exception regarding democracy. How can we explain the Arab global resistance to democratic practices? How and why did democratization emerge in some Arab states? What's the meaning of democratic transition within the Arab world?
