The Role of Sentiment in the Democratic Transition: A Reading on the Determinants of the Revolution Spread (The Arabic Spring as A Model)

Authors

Ahmed F. Ibrahim Al-Rimawi, Department of Public Law and Political Sciences, Faculty of Legal, Social and Economic Sciences, Hassan I University. Morocco. & Khaled Al-Hassan Center for Studies and Research, MoroccoFollow
AbdulQader A. AlAzzeh, Department of Public Law and Political Science, Faculty of Law, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine. & Khaled Al-Hassan Center for Studies and Research, MoroccoFollow

DOI

doi.org/10.35552/0247.38.6.2216

Abstract

The study seeks to reveal the reasons for the revolution’s transition from an Arab country (Tunisia) to other Arab countries (Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen) through what can be described as a (revolution stream). The study does not seek to determine the success or failure of the revolution in these Arabic countries, as much as it aims to study the motives for the transition of the revolution. Thus, to achieve this goal, the author divided the study into two main notions. The first notion aims at exploring the value of the “sentiments” in terms of its theoretical rooting as it has a psychological and social value. Furthermore, it aims to understand how “sentiments” played the role of a bridge between revolutions. And finally, the author touched on the fact that sentiment value was not explored sufficiently in the study of the democratic transition. The second notion includes three variables of this sentiment value, which are: the determinant of the Arab and Islamic affiliation, the variable of fear and the existence of a central issue that brings these societies together and unites them. The study concluded that there is a positive relationship between the democratic transition and the value of “sentiments”, which is divided into two stages (a covert sentiment, an overt sentiment). The first is rooted in identity and remains static until it reaches the second stage peak becoming contagious and increasing the value of the “sentiment”. This result is based on assuming the variables that contributed directly or indirectly to the process of transferring the revolution from an Arab country (Tunisia) to other Arab countries. Thus, the determinant of the Arab and Islamic affiliation broke the political boundaries of the national state and was a critical contributor to the revolution success. While the variable of fear was an instinctive for the group of peoples who have suffered under the scourge of fear from the power and domination of the political system. These two variables would not have been a reason for the expansion of the protest area if it wasn’t for the third variable: the presence of a sacred, central cause on which those rising masses in those countries depended and shared variable (the Palestinian cause) which contributed to the spread of the revolution.

Recommended Citation

Al-Rimawi, Ahmed F. Ibrahim and AlAzzeh, AbdulQader A. (2024) "The Role of Sentiment in the Democratic Transition: A Reading on the Determinants of the Revolution Spread (The Arabic Spring as A Model)," An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities): Vol. 38: Iss. 6, Article 4.
DOI: doi.org/10.35552/0247.38.6.2216
Available at: https://digitalcommons.aaru.edu.jo/anujr_b/vol38/iss6/4