Service Delivery, State Legitimacy and Conflict in Arab Countries: Exploring the Key Linkages Using a Social Policy Perspective
This paper addresses the question of how service delivery (SD) affects state legitimacy (SL) and conflict (C) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, drawing particularly on frameworks that move beyond a state-centric approach. Focusing on the majority-Arab countries of MENA, the paper ai...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/481 |
| _version_ | 1797500554007543808 |
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| author | Rana Jawad Oliver Walton Walid Merouani |
| author_facet | Rana Jawad Oliver Walton Walid Merouani |
| author_sort | Rana Jawad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper addresses the question of how service delivery (SD) affects state legitimacy (SL) and conflict (C) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, drawing particularly on frameworks that move beyond a state-centric approach. Focusing on the majority-Arab countries of MENA, the paper aims to: (1) offer a preliminary explanation of the distinctiveness of this region in light of some of the main findings of the introductory paper by the lead guest editor Timo Kivimäki and (2) explore the potential of a social policy perspective in explaining the relationship between SD, SL and C. This is achieved by combining research insights acquired through extensive qualitative social policy research in the MENA region with a re-reading of the existing literature on SD, SL and C. To support a comprehensive re-examination of the issues at hand, the paper also draws on the 5th Wave of the Arab Barometer micro-level survey (ABS) on Arab citizen perceptions of socio-economic conditions in their countries and macro-level social welfare expenditure data from the World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI). By bringing insights from the social policy literature on the MENA region into conversation with broader research on the relationship between SD, SL and C, we identify several distinctive features of service delivery in the MENA context and examine their implications for state legitimacy and conflict. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:05:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-23e71e68989d404496237b8205801658 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:05:29Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-23e71e68989d404496237b82058016582023-11-23T10:34:19ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602021-12-01101248110.3390/socsci10120481Service Delivery, State Legitimacy and Conflict in Arab Countries: Exploring the Key Linkages Using a Social Policy PerspectiveRana Jawad0Oliver Walton1Walid Merouani2Department of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UKDepartment of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UKResearch Center in Applied Economics for Development, Alger 16000, AlgeriaThis paper addresses the question of how service delivery (SD) affects state legitimacy (SL) and conflict (C) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, drawing particularly on frameworks that move beyond a state-centric approach. Focusing on the majority-Arab countries of MENA, the paper aims to: (1) offer a preliminary explanation of the distinctiveness of this region in light of some of the main findings of the introductory paper by the lead guest editor Timo Kivimäki and (2) explore the potential of a social policy perspective in explaining the relationship between SD, SL and C. This is achieved by combining research insights acquired through extensive qualitative social policy research in the MENA region with a re-reading of the existing literature on SD, SL and C. To support a comprehensive re-examination of the issues at hand, the paper also draws on the 5th Wave of the Arab Barometer micro-level survey (ABS) on Arab citizen perceptions of socio-economic conditions in their countries and macro-level social welfare expenditure data from the World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI). By bringing insights from the social policy literature on the MENA region into conversation with broader research on the relationship between SD, SL and C, we identify several distinctive features of service delivery in the MENA context and examine their implications for state legitimacy and conflict.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/481service deliverystate legitimacyconflictsocial policyMiddle East and North Africasocial protection |
| spellingShingle | Rana Jawad Oliver Walton Walid Merouani Service Delivery, State Legitimacy and Conflict in Arab Countries: Exploring the Key Linkages Using a Social Policy Perspective Social Sciences service delivery state legitimacy conflict social policy Middle East and North Africa social protection |
| title | Service Delivery, State Legitimacy and Conflict in Arab Countries: Exploring the Key Linkages Using a Social Policy Perspective |
| title_full | Service Delivery, State Legitimacy and Conflict in Arab Countries: Exploring the Key Linkages Using a Social Policy Perspective |
| title_fullStr | Service Delivery, State Legitimacy and Conflict in Arab Countries: Exploring the Key Linkages Using a Social Policy Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Service Delivery, State Legitimacy and Conflict in Arab Countries: Exploring the Key Linkages Using a Social Policy Perspective |
| title_short | Service Delivery, State Legitimacy and Conflict in Arab Countries: Exploring the Key Linkages Using a Social Policy Perspective |
| title_sort | service delivery state legitimacy and conflict in arab countries exploring the key linkages using a social policy perspective |
| topic | service delivery state legitimacy conflict social policy Middle East and North Africa social protection |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/481 |
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