The Middle Class and the Rentier State in a Changing Middle East: Iran's Case and Egypt’s Prospects
The rise of a middle class has been an important factor in societal change, political transition and the transformation from authoritarian to democratic regimes in the developed countries. It can be assumed that the rise of the middle class is also a prerequisite for changing and creating a real democratic future in the Middle East. However, in the cases of Iran and Egypt, the transformation of an old and the emergence of a new middle class was a result of socio-economic developments such as the formation of rentier states. The new middle class that emerged in rentier-state regimes is dependent on the rent and the state and is therefore vulnerable. However, the new middle class turned revolutionary (Iran 1979, Egypt 2011) and grew into a perceived source of threat to ‘supporters’ of the system. Despite some attempts for democratization in these countries, hybrid regimes were ultimately established. Due to the disadvantages of the rentier state, there are numerous possibilities of an emerging authoritarianism. However, it seems that the strong resistance of the middle class has been an important obstacle to authoritarian desires of a rentier state. Thus, the present research is aimed to analyze the possibilities of democratization under hybrid regimes with focus on characterizing a rentier state and the role of the middle class in the Middle East countries, particularly Iran and Egypt.