Sous la direction de Salim Chena, Abdennour Benantar et Louisa Dris-Aït Hamadouche Le Hirak algérien. Retour sur un mouvement contestataire inédit L’Harmattan, 2024

Informal political practices sometimes subvert formal political institutions and laws. In this article, I will discuss the practice of wasta in Jordan. A common practice in Arab countries, wasta is a form of patron-client relations by which less-powerful citizens seek to exercise influence with more...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: François, Zoé
Formato: Article ou chapitre numérique
Lenguaje:Français
Publicado: 2024
Acceso en línea:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Descripción
Sumario:Informal political practices sometimes subvert formal political institutions and laws. In this article, I will discuss the practice of wasta in Jordan. A common practice in Arab countries, wasta is a form of patron-client relations by which less-powerful citizens seek to exercise influence with more-powerful government officials. I find that there is serious unfairness inherent in the practice, however, because some people “have wasta” and some do not, or have less than others. I argue that, because it turns government officials into sources of privileged access, the practice of wasta erodes social trust, leads to poor assessments of government performance, and distances citizens from the political life of the country. To make this argument, I use data from interviews I conducted with Jordanian youth.