Course guide of Political Systems in the Maghreb (21211F1)

A satisfactory level of competence in English is highly recommended to get the most from lectures, seminars, debates and readings.

In the case of using AI tools for the development of the subject, the student must adopt an ethical and responsible use of them. The recommendations contained in the
document "Recommendations for the use of artificial intelligence in the UGR" must be followed. It is published here:
https://ceprud.ugr.es/formacion-tic/inteligencia-artificial/recomendaciones-ia#contenido0

This course offers an explanation of both the evolution of the political regimes in the region (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) and their evolving relations with the rest of the Middle East and Africa, the European Union and the USA.

1. Identification of national and international dimensions in the Tunsian, Libyan , Moroccan, Algerian and Mauritanian political processes.
2. Identification of political, economic, social, and religious dimensions in the Tunsian, Libyan , Moroccan, Algerian and Mauritanian political processes.
3. Identificación of regimes, regime changes and changes within the regime in the Tunisian, Libyan , Moroccan, Algerian and Mauritanian political processes.

1. Tunisian political system, actors, politics and policies
2. Libyan political system, actors, policies and policies
3. Moroccan political system, actors, politics and policies
4. Mauritania political system, actors, politics and policies
5. Algerian political system, actors, politics and policies

Teamwork

Rol play

Press Review

Reaction Paper/Advisory Report

TUNISIA

Boubekeur, Amel (2016) "Islamists, Secularists and Old Regime Elites in Tunisia: bargained Competition", Mediterranean Politics, 21(1):107-127, DOI:
10.1080/13629395.2015.1081449

Debuysere, Loes (2015) "Tunisian Women at the Crossroads: Antagonism and Agonism between Secular and Islamist Women’s Rights Movements in Tunisia",
Mediterranean Politics, 21(2), 226–245. DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2015.1092292

Desrues, Thierry and Eric Gobe (2025): "Kais Saied’s governance: the Tunisian President’s drift from inclusive populist constitutionalism to ‘Caesarism’", The Journal
of North African Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13629387.2025.2469056

Forfod Yssen, Selma Sofia and Kristian Stokke (2024) "Resisting autocratization? Civil society’s response to the autocratic turn in Tunisia", Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift -
Norwegian Journal of Geography, 78:4, 234-248, DOI: 10.1080/00291951.2024.2424943

Gobe, Eric (2009) "Deceptive Liberal Reforms: Institutional Adjustments and the Dynamics of Authoritarianism in Tunisia (1997–2005)", in Democracy Building & Democracy Erosion. Political Change North and South of the Mediterranean. Saqi, p. 93-111.

Kuznetsov, Vasily (2022) "The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia and the Birth of the Arab Spring Uprisings", in Jack A. Goldstone, Leonid Grinin and· Andrey Korotayev (eds) Handbook of Revolutions in the 21st Century. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. p. 625-650. https://content.e-bookshelf.de/media/reading/L-17012688-176ef09382.pdf

LIBYA

Barmin, Yury (2022) "Revolution in Libya", in Jack A. Goldstone, Leonid Grinin and· Andrey Korotayev (eds) Handbook of Revolutions in the 21st Century. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. p. 725-738. https://content.e-bookshelf.de/media/reading/L-17012688-176ef09382.pdf

Ben Lamma, Mohamed (2017) The tribal structure in Libya: factor for fragmentation or cohesion? Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique. https://www.frstrategie.org/web/documents/programmes/observatoire-du-monde-arabo-musulman-et-du-sahel/publications/en/14.pdf

Kuperman, Alan (2013) “Lessons from Libya: How Not to Intervene”, Quarterly Journal: International Security, https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/lessons-libya-how-not-intervene

Hinnebusch, Raymond A. (1984) "Charisma, Revolution, and State Formation: Qaddafi and Libya", Third World Quarterly , 6 (1): 59-73. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3991227.pdf?casa_token=-svGFREkh-cAAAAA:dQIqY0s807tHo3A5TgLcmFIl0H2pPTM6OhacrM39GVERB_i569ovC0Uy6wHmN1a9DsU6czIn4wKwLsNeeuAzumx1cZr8OYF27ELtydIbYLfq8QMRsSI

Joffé, George & Emanuela Paoletti (2011) “The foreign policy process in Libya”, The Journal of North African Studies, 16 (2): 183-213 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254253718_The_foreign_policy_process_in_Libya

Romanet Perroux, Jean-Louis (2019) "The Deep Roots of Libya’s Security Fragmentation", Middle Eastern Studies, 55(2): 200-2024. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48543847

Selmi, Noureddine (2026) "Libya: The Path from State Absence to the Long-Awaited Government", in Moosa Elayah (ed). Governance without Government in the MENA Region State, Non-State Actors and Evolving Paradigms. Cham: Springer. p. 183-206. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-03953-8

MOROCCO

•Allan, Joanna. (2016). "Natural Resources and Intifada: Oil, Phosphates and Resistance to Colonialism in Western Sahara." Journal of North African Studies 21 (4):1-22.

•Allan, Joanna; Ojeda-García, Raquel. (2021). “Natural resource exploitation in Western Sahara: new research directions”. The Journal of North African Studies, 27(6): 1107–1136. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2021.1917120DOI: 10.1080/13629387.2021.1917120

•Saul, Ben. (2015). "The Status of Western Sahara as Occupied Territory under International Humanitarian Law and the Exploitation of Natural Resources." Global Change, Peace and Security 27 (3):301-322.

MAURITANIA

•FAKIR, Intissa, O’KEEFE, Abby (2020). “Can Mauritania Protect its Political Stability?”. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/09/17/can-mauritania-protect-its-political-stability-pub-82735

•Ojeda-García, Raquel y López-Ruiz, Samara (2019), “Mauritania: ¿el fin de la era Abdelaziz?” Afkar/Ideas. Verano 2019: 43-46.

ALGERIA

•GHANEM, Dalia (2020). The country’s leaders are seeking to put an end to the popular protest movement, but it’s just not working. https://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/83154

•VOLPIE, Frédéric (2006). “Algeria's pseudo-democratic politics: Lessons for democratization in the Middle East”. Democratization, 13(3): 442-455.

•ABDERAHMANE, Yacine (2020). “Identity belonging and Constitutional reform in Algeria: Reconciliating Ideologies for a Peaceful Transition”. Arab Reform Initiative. https://www.arab-reform.net/publication/identity-belonging-and-constitutional-reform-in-algeria-reconciliating-ideologies-for-a-peaceful-transition/

REGIONAL TRENDS AND POLITICS

Azedi (2026). "Religious Trends among Arab Muslims, 2010–2022: Continued Revival, Polarization, or Burgeoning Secularization?", International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 67(3), 354-376. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207152251319750

Colombo, Silvia and Nathalie Tocci (2012), “The EU Response to the Arab Uprising; Old Wine in New Bottles?”, in Riccardo Alcaro and Miguel Haubrich-Seco (eds) Re-thinking Western Policies in Light of the Arab Uprising.: http://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iairp_04.pdf

El Amran, i Issandr (2012), “The US Response to the Arab Uprising: Part of the Problem?”, in Riccardo Alcaro and Miguel Haubrich-Seco (eds) Re-thinking Western Policies in Light of the Arab Uprising: http://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iairp_04.pdf

Martínez Fuentes, Guadalupe and F. Javier Robles Sánchez (2026) "The Concept and Measurement of Social Autocratisation: A Test in North Africa and the Middle East", Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 193: 113-130. https://reis.cis.es/index.php/reis/article/view/2516/3090

AMOUR, Philipp O. (Ed.) : The Regional Order in the Gulf Region and the Middle East, Nueva York Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Pedido a Biblioteca 8-VII-2020

FLORENSA, Senén (Dir.): The Arab spring in comparative perspective. Barcelona, IEMed, 2015. CPS/297 FLO ara

IZQUIERDO BRICHS, Ferran (ed.): Political Regimes in the Arab World, Oxon y Nueva York, Routledge, 2013.CPS/297 IZQ pol.

POSUSNEY, Marsha Pripstein y ANGRIST, Michele Penner: Authoritarianism in the Midlle East: regimes and resistence, Lynne Rienner Publishers. Boulder, Londres, 2005. CPS/956 AUT ant.

SZMOLKA, Inmaculada (Ed.): Political Change in Middle East and North Africa. After the Arab Spring, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017. CPS 297 SZM pol

VOLPI, Fréderic : Revolution and Autoritarianism in North Africa, Londres, Hurst &Company, 2017. CPS 961 VOL rev

ZOUBIR, Yahia y AMIRAH FERNANDEZ, Haizam (Eds.): North Africa: politics, region and the limits of transformation, Londres, Routledge, 2008. CPS/961 ZOU nor.

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

http://www.tandfoline.com/toc/cbjm20/current

Contemporary Arab Affairs

http://www.tandfoline.com/toc/rcaa20/current

Journal of Islamic Studies

https://academic.oup.com/jis

The Journal of Modern African Studies

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies

Mediterranean Politics
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/13629395.asp

Middle East Policy

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14754967/2018/25/2

Democratiation

https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fdem20/current

• MD01. Lecture/exhibition 
• MD02. Discussion and debate sessions 
• MD03. Problem solving and case studies 
• MD05. Field practicum 
• MD06. Computer lab practicals 
• MD07. Seminars 
• MD08. Simulation exercises 
• MD09. Analysis of sources and documents 
• MD10. Group work 
• MD11. Individual work 

The course consists of two terms. Class attendance is compulsory in both terms.

In the First Term assignments are as follows:
• (Theory) Advisory Report (teamwork): written exercise representing 60% of the first term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 6.
• (Practice) Press review (individual work): oral presentation or written exercise representing 20% of the first term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 2.
• (Practice) Contribution to role play activities (teamwork): oral presentation and written exercise representing 20% of the first term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 2.
In order to pass the term, students must get a grade equal to or higher than 5 points out of 10, irrespective of whether that result stems from theoretical or practical assigments.

Second term assignments are as follows:

• (Theory) Advisory Report (teamwork): written exercise representing 60% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 6.
• (Practice) Political Index review (individual work): oral presentation or written exercise representing 20% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 2.
• (Practice) Contribution to role play activities (teamwork): oral presentation and written exercise representing 20% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 2.
In order to pass the term, students must get a grade equal to or higher than 5 points out of 10, irrespective of whether that result stems from theoretical or practical assigments.

If both terms are passed, the final grade will be the average grade obtained in both terms.

The conditions for the demonstration of competencies and grading in the extraordinary assessment are the same as in the ordinary assessment.

In the First Term assignments are as follows:
• (Theory) Advisory Report (teamwork): written exercise representing 60% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 6.
• (Practice) Press review (individual work): oral presentation of written exercise representing 20% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 2.
• (Practice) Contribution to role play activities (teamwork): oral presentation and written exercise representing 20% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 2.
In order to pass the term, students must get a grade equal to or higher than 5 points out of 10, irrespective of whether that result stems from theoretical or practical assigments.

Second term assignments are as follows:

• (Theory) Advisory Report (teamwork): written exercise representing 60% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 6.
• (Practice) Political Index review (individual work): oral presentation or written exercise representing 20% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 2.
• (Practice) Contribution to role play activities (teamwork): oral presentation and written exercise representing 20% of the second term grade. The grade for this exercise ranges from 0 to 2.
In order to pass the term, students must get a grade equal to or higher than 5 points out of 10, irrespective of whether that result stems from theoretical or practical assigments.

If both terms are passed, the final grade will be the average grade obtained in both terms.

In order to pass the course, students who do not attend class regularly must pass an exam. The exam consists of a battery of questions related to the political systems of Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. To prepare for the exam, students should study the recommended readings for each term, which are listed in PRADO.
The test includes four questions. Two refer to the first term and two refer to the second term. In each block, one question will be theoretical and one will be a practical application of the theory. Theoretical questions will have a maximum mark of 3 out of 10. Practical questions will have a maximum mark of 2 out of 10.
To pass the exam, the student must obtain at least 5 points out of 10 in total. The value of the exam is 100% of the final mark.

Profesional profile

The subject Political Systems of the Maghreb allows the development of skills required for analyst work in NGOs, think tanks and consultancy, among other sectors. To learn more about this subject, we recommend reading the following article: https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/POSO/article/view/90497

The University of Granada publishes a guide of career opportunities for all degrees aimed at students. In the following link you can read the Guide to Political Science and Administration. Particularly interesting are the sections: Professional fields, Occupations and Job prospects.
Guide of professional opportunities in Political Science and Administration: https://empleo.ugr.es/salidasprofesionales/grados/ciencias-politicas-y-administracion/

Originality of papers and tests.

The University of Granada will encourage respect for intellectual property and convey to students that plagiarism is a practice contrary to the principles governing university education. .
Plagiarism, understood as the presentation of a work or work done by another person as their own or the copying of texts without citing their source and giving them as their own elaboration, will automatically entail the numerical grade of zero in the subject in which it would have been detected, regardless of the rest of the grades that the student would have obtained. This consequence must be understood without prejudice to the disciplinary responsibilities that students who plagiarize may incur.
The works and materials submitted by the students must be signed with an explicit statement in which the originality of the work is assumed, understood in the sense that the student has not used sources without properly citing them.

Support and guidance services

The University of Granada offers to students support and guidance services, as follow:

Oficina de Prevención y Respuesta ante el Acoso de la UGR (OPRA): https://www.ugr.es/info/perfiles/estudiantes/atencion-social-igualdad-inclusion-sostenibilidad/igualdad-prevencion-respuesta-acoso

Unidad de Igualdad y Conciliación de la UGR: https://viis.ugr.es/areas/igualdad-conciliacion Gabinete Psicopedagógico/

Unidad de Orientación Académica de la UGR: https://ve.ugr.es/secretariados-y-unidades/orientacion

Servicio de Asistencia Estudiantil de la UGR: https://ve.ugr.es/servicios/asistencia-estudiantil/

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In accordance with the university’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda, this course is explicitly aligned with the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The syllabus focuses on the evolution of political regimes and the functioning of political institutions in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. By analysing political processes and the dynamics of regime change, students explore the challenges of establishing accountable and inclusive governance in the Maghreb.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities. Through the study of political actors, citizens' behaviour, and the social nature of ideological shifts, the course addresses how different political models in the region manage political inclusion and the representation of diverse social groups during periods of political change.

SDG 5: Gender Equality. The curriculum incorporates a gender-sensitive perspective by including specific academic literature on women’s rights movements and their influence on the political landscape, particularly in contexts such as the Tunisian transition.