Politics and Opposition in Kuwait: Continuity and Change

Abstract

This article examines the post-2006 political instability in Kuwait in light of the historical processes of political development in the emirate. It illustrates how recurring patterns of political contestation have resulted in a hybrid system divided uneasily between an elected assembly and an appointed government. The article identifies the tensions in Kuwait's political system resulting from the steady rise in the bar of political opposition over the past decade as well as mounting imbalances within both the ruling family and the political opposition. As boundaries of permissible activity have been tested and exceeded, neither the al-Sabah nor the established political groups have known how to respond, making Kuwait politics at once dynamic, fluid, and relentlessly unstable. Neither an archetypal monarchy nor a genuinely pluralistic state, Kuwait defies easy categorisation and merits special attention as the “rules of the game” are being rewritten in an intensely politicised and increasingly heated atmosphere.