From Loyal to Hard Opposition: The Political Transformation of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood

Abstract

ABSTRACTAfter almost three decades of electoral contestation, the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood (JMB) has moved away from being a ‘loyal opposition’ advocating the Islamization of Jordanian politics and avoiding any open confrontations with the regime, to a ‘hard opposition’ advocating political reforms and from demanding the formation of a functioning constitutional monarchy. This paper will discuss why and how on such a political transformation has taken place by utilizing theories on party change, social movements, political transitions from authoritarianism, state power, Islamic political thought, and democratization in the Middle East. In doing so, it will also critically evaluate the findings of the inclusion-moderation literature, adapt a qualitative methodology, and argue that (1) the Jordanian regime deliberalized as the JMB became electorally successful during the regime’s tactical political opening, that (2) the regime’s deliberalization created internal debates within the JMB in regards to how to respond to these transformations in the regime, and that (3) the JMB became less idealistic, that is less focused on morality issues, and more realistic, that is more focused on actual political problems and policy, such as unemployment and constitutional reforms, as a result of these internal debates.