Rules on Paper, Rules in Practice: Enforcing Laws and Policies in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

In early 2011, the citizens of countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) took to the streets to demand change in an enduring movement unprecedented in its scope and momentum. Protesters sought more opportunities to participate in governance, including the right to representation, assembly, public debate, and legal recourse. They also demanded equitable treatment by their governments, access to decent jobs and reliable public services. Most importantly, they forcefully demanded an end to undue economic privilege, discrimination at the hands of bureaucrats, and asymmetries in business opportunities. The volume examines three cases from the Middle East and North Africa that extend the application of the concept of rule of law beyond its traditional home of legal and judiciary reform and into core economic sectors: taxation in Morocco, customs in Tunisia, and land inheritance in Jordan. Each case carries economic consequences on the macro scale, and each has implications for social justice. In Morocco, the study finds that tax obligations may be renegotiated between influential taxpayers and the administration. In Tunisia, despite a decade of acclaimed legal and regulatory reforms for customs law, corruption and discretion remain rampant. In Jordan, women are being denied their right to property, enshrined in laws drawing on the Islamic Sharia, due to social pressure to relinquish these rights in favor of male relatives. This study provides a wider theoretical lens, reinforced with empirical evidence, which provides a tool for policy makers to identify factors that may further or hinder the effective implementation of laws and regulations. At stake in understanding the process behind rule-of-law outcomes more deeply is the formulation of more nuanced and context-specific reform alternatives for enhanced social justice, economic growth, and political stability.