Intermediary organizations, international cooperation and the changing social contract: Morocco’s new development model

Abstract

In 2021, King Mohammed VI’s appointed commission released a new vision for Moroccan state-society relations: the New Development Model (Nouveau Modèle de Développement, NMD). Presented as a ‘national collective and federative project’, it entailed a social protection system called a ‘social pact’ or ‘social contract’. The King’s vision articulated in the NMD promises changes that many Moroccans have long been calling for. The government has created several intermediary organizations mandated to work on reforms, which reflect citizens’ expectations but keep the pace of change under control. From an international cooperation perspective, these bodies are potential partners for reforms and achieving common development objectives. This article addresses two related questions: what scope of action do Moroccan intermediary organizations have to press for changes to the social contract under the NMD? Do they require international support in fulfilling their roles as change makers? Our analytical framework is based on scholarship exploring political settlements and institutional mandates in neo-patrimonial political systems. We focus on three intermediary organizations relevant to the deliverables of the social contract and discuss the extent to which they push the limits of their mandates to facilitate change. We then turn to the support that international development cooperation could provide.