What Do ‘The People’ Want? Form and Substance in Democracy and Social Justice

Abstract

This chapter addresses five questions: what were the drivers of the 2011 Uprisings?; what do citizens see as the main challenges facing their country?; do they want democracy and if yes what kind of democracy?; what type of government do they think will deliver on their priorities?; and do they trust their governments to deliver on their priorities? The main conclusions are: citizens see economic factors and corruption as the main driver of the Uprisings and the main challenge facing their country in 2016; while for democracy seen as the best system of government and compatible with Islam what they want is social-democratic democracy; democracy is not necessarily seen as the only type of government that can deliver on their demands; and there is little trust that governments will deliver. The discontent that drove the Uprisings is still evident indicating that further mass protests cannot be ruled out.