The completely unexpected wave of political protests, spread at the end of 2010 from Tunisia to other North African and Middle Eastern countries, has challenged many granitic insights developed by the so-called literature of the “persistence of authoritarianism”. However, since “only” a few autocrats were overthrown, we cannot completely discredit this vast literature. Considering this issue, explaining Algeria stability, as a counterfactual case, it is relevant. In order to understand why Algeria, even though was one of the first countries in the region to be affected by the wave of uprisings, failed to seriously threaten Bouteflika’s regime, I use a multifactorial explanation. It is based on historical heritage of the recent civil war, a cohesive ruling elite, a successful co-optation of opposition elites topped off by the regime, a powerful redistributive patronage, an effective use of the security apparatus, and a reciprocal distrust between Islamist and secularist oppositions.
