Algeria tests path towards democracy in an era of authoritarianism

Still, there is a good reason to temper hope for Algeria. The global “wave” of authoritarianism building since 1994, the scholars found, has not yet crested. Indeed, their data shows, it “may still be picking up.”

Written by Max Fisher

When Algerians filled their country’s streets to demand political change, it looked at first like a familiar story of hopes for democracy bound to turn to despair. A few weeks earlier, in another corner of the Arabic-speaking world, Sudanese protesters had been met with violent crackdowns and tightening government control. It was typical of rising repression and stalling democracy worldwide.

On Monday, though, Algeria took a different direction. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the president for 20 years, announced he would not seek a fifth term after all. Instead, a convention would be called to draft a new constitution and oversee a peaceful transition of power.

Algeria’s power brokers, particularly in the military, are all but certain to continue pulling strings from the shadows — indeed, Bouteflika, 82, is so debilitated by illness that many view him as little more than a figurehead. Still, for much of the modern era, this would have looked like a first step on the long path out of dictatorship. Many democracies can trace their origins to a week like this, when the old elite began to cede control. But the world has changed.