Power-Sharing Processes in Post-Arab Spring Tunisia: From Elite Compromise to Presidential Monopolization

In the context of the so-called Arab Spring, Tunisia is the only Arab country to have undergone a formal democratic transition since 2010/2011. Such consolidation can be traced back to an elite compromise (Itifaq al nukhba). This specific and initially persistent format of power-sharing was characterized by personal negotiation processes. This practice took place—within and outside—an institutional superstructure that, amid a multitude of sociopolitical and economic challenges, corresponded at least formally to an institutional democracy. Since 2018, a decline of the elite compromise could be observed, culminating in the abolition of the power-sharing arrangement in favor of a presidential monopolization of power. Using sociohistorical reflection, this chapter will provide an overview of the characteristics of the Tunisian format of power-sharing in a three-step process, thus analyzing (1) the creation, (2) the functional implementation and adaptation in terms of institutional constitutionality, and (3) the decline and dissolution of the power-sharing process and system.