03.02.2011                     29.Shevat, 5771

Feature:

Arab world protesters are proving their regimes are illegitimate

Hypotheses abound regarding the reasons for the ugly wave now sweeping the Arab world – some of them intelligent, others highly unconvincing.

Hypotheses abound regarding the reasons for the ugly wave now sweeping the Arab world – some of them intelligent, others highly unconvincing. They include rulers' plans to pass the reins of government to their offspring, unemployment and economic shortages, youthful rebellion in a population whose median age is just over 20 and a longing for democracy.
The truth is that the crisis mostly derives from perceptions of the legitimacy of these countries' regimes. In liberal democratic regimes of the sort we know, legitimacy is founded on the sovereignty of the people. If the people are satisfied, they express confidence in their government, and if not, they oust the government via an orderly transfer of power. Even when the elected government is securely entrenched, the opposition sits in parliament, ready to take the reins of power when the time comes….