Crony Capitalist, Democracy and the Arab Uprisings in North Africa

This dissertation proposes a theory to explain business collective action on behalf of regime change in Egypt and Tunisia with respect to democratic breakdown and survival after the Arab Spring. Through the use of a novel survey experiment and field research in both countries, I argue that business collective action can be explained best by understanding the collective action dilemmas that pro-authoritarian coalitions must solve to undermine democracy. In particular, I look at the institutions that structure business collective action and make it more or less likely for a pro-authoritarian equilibrium to emerge.

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