No. 17 – September 2013
Author: Valeria Ruggiu
Language: English
Keywords:
Democratization
Islamic Action Front
Islamism
Politics of Jordan
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Abstract
Could the Islamic Action Front be considered as a vehicle of democratization of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan? The Kingdom experienced regular protests since the early months of 2011. The so called “Arab Spring” is not overthrowing the regime in Jordan, even though people have been taking to the streets almost every Friday for more than two years, and the most active promoter of the protests have been the IAF. It is thus worthy, to better understand which role we could expect it to play in the Jordanian democratization process. Throughout several steps, the argument will be that the IAF could be weighted as a real medium of democratization of political life in Jordan. In order to do so, it will be convenient to start from a brief history of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. We will continue with a startling revelation regarding the very high level of academic education among the ranks of the IAF. A third section of the paper will describe the remarkable democratic structure of the IAF party itself. Continuing on the same line, we well engage with its political platform that, just as its structure, enhances and promotes the democratic theorem throughout its idea of political development. The last supporting section will show how the IAF has secured itself to the Jordanian political system. We will conclude with a part that will suggest some of the most common critiques moved against the IAF, but we will manage to explain that they are overrated.
