Legitimacy and Legitimation in Arab Monarchies: Evidences form Jordan and Morocco

The Arab Spring and the subsequent breakdown of some well-established regimes have inaugurated a new wave of research on regime change and its deep rooted causes. Nonetheless, there have been regimes in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region that not only remain stable but that have improved their popularity within their population and among the so-called international community. This is the case of Jordan and Morocco, which have been able to control the popular protests, by means of changing some superficial elements of their political systems combined without high levels of violence and repression. Therefore, the monarchies have achieved to maintain an (almost) absolute political and executive power. How these Arab monarchies have assured their survival? This paper analyses the legitimation strategies of these two hybrid regimes in a tumultuous regional environment. Attention is given to their legitimation messages and also to their legitimation political action: religious, military or social presence, focusing on their shared, but also on the different, factors. Finally, this work includes a short evaluation of the impact of these discourses and political action. The paper is based on extensive field work of the authors on both countries.