The State and Political Economy of Democratization in Libya, 1969 – 2011

Abstract

The study examines the State and Political Economy of Democratization in Libya from 1969 to 2011, specifically focusing on the State and political economy of fundamental human rights in Libya for the period of study. Research questions (and hypothesis) for the study sought to discover if the government provides political and economic structures for the enforcement of the fundamental human rights of Libyans between 1969 and 2011. The second enquires whether the Libyan government base political recruitment into the legislature and executive on periodic election for the period under review. While the third sought to discover if the Libyan political structures support the development of political parties and constitutional opposition within the period. The theoretical framework used to analyze the study is the Marxian Political Economy theory. Data was collected for the study through the use of qualitative method by development of the logical data framework. The data collected was analyzed using qualitative descriptive technique, while the logical data clarified the empirical indicators. The study discovers that oil is at the heart of the human rights abuse in Libya and the government puts up machinery of the state as instrument of coercion and infringement of the fundamental human rights of her citizens in forms of unlawful arrests, detention, torture and killing. In response to the research questions, the study found out that the government of Libya tends to relegate political and economic structures for the enforcement of the fundamental human rights of citizens between 1969 and 2011. This is done by using the structures in place to subvert and infringe on the rights of the citizens in terms of denial of economic (entrepreneurial drive) and social-political rights (political aspiration and determination). It further discovered that Libya political recruitment into the legislature and executive based on periodic election between 1969 and 2011 tend to be undermined by the Libyan government. Political recruitment into the executive and legislature is not based on competitive election, but on clientelism, patronage and prebendalism. Finally, the study investigated that the Libyan political structure tends to militate against the development of political parties and constitutional opposition between 1969 and 2011. It suppressed them in extra-legal and violent ways as manifest in the February 16, 2011 violent suppression of protests in Libya. Based on this the study recommends that the new government of Libya should control the arms in the hands of the liberation fighters to forestall future violence. It should also stop the ongoing arrests, detentions and killings against perceived supporters of the past regime of Gaddafi by the coalition fighters. Finally, the government should speedily work towards reconstructing and stabilizing the system so as to salvage the basis of the last revolt.