Evaluating Political Reform in Yemen

Publication Date: February 2007

Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Author(s): Sarah Phillips

Research Area: Politics

Type: Report

Abstract:

Yemeni democratic reform was lauded following the 2006 presidential election when a credible opposition candidate captured 22 percent of the vote. In a region dominated by single-party authoritarian regimes, some experts concluded that the opposition's success made this the most significant election in the Middle East. But did the election truly indicate a shift toward substantial political reform, or was the regime simply allowing minor electoral freedoms while seeking to maintain the status quo? What can outsiders do to help facilitate democratic reforms in Yemen?

In this Carnegie Paper, Evaluating Political Reform in Yemen, Sarah Phillips, a specialist on Yemeni politics, assesses the significance of Yemen's limited democratic reforms since national unification and recommends steps that Yemeni and foreign actors can take to promote more meaningful reform.

Phillips contends that the regime has built its political survival on the same system that could undermine its future. If Yemen is to remain a viable state, aggressive political and economic reform must weaken the current patronage system and the legal inconstancies that stem from it--which Phillips believes are the biggest obstacles to reform.

The Yemeni government's need for international donors opens up opportunities for foreign governments to influence further reform. "If significant political changes are to occur in Yemen, it is primarily for the Yemeni regime to choose. However, the West should still apply consistent pressure in this direction and work to build the capacity of domestic actors who share this goal," says Phillips.