Tribal solidarity is an important feature in the national election for Kuwaiti parliament as tribes practice it as a concrete reality through their competition with each other or with other Kuwaiti groups. By utilizing participant observation and applying the theory of interpretive anthropology, this study interprets how and why tribal members demonstrate such solidarity. In this sense, the thesis concentrates on interpreting the meanings of social actions and thoughts of these tribal members toward their collectivities and, then, on what kinds of benefits these tribal collectivities may provide. The study also indicates the interrelationships between tribal solidarity and other sociocultural systems (political, economic, psychological, social systems, etc.), which together show how tribal people modify and justify their actions and thoughts to benefit from their solidarity in the national election for parliament and other social contexts. In conclusion, Tribal solidarity is a part of large symbolic system, the Bedouin culture, which exemplifies a historical and social attachment between one and his tribe. It also reflects such political and economic benefits for members of a tribe in their daily cooperation with one another. / Department of Anthropology

Since the late 1980s an increasing amount of literature has attempted to explain liberalization and democratization, or lack thereof, in the Arab world. Theories have developed around such concepts as civil society, state formation and political culture, yet a conclusive theory that could predict the future of these two processes in the Arab world has not emerged. This thesis seeks to add to this body of work by theorizing that regime type---specifically monarchical regimes---may be a useful variable in analyzing political reform in the region and will attempt to explain how and under what conditions some countries will open their political systems. This thesis takes the view that while there has been some indication of liberalization in the Arab world there has been very little evidence of democratization. Evidence of liberalization in Arab monarchies will be shown in case studies of Kuwait and Jordan.

No description available.

No description available.

The First Gulf War that took place in Kuwait in 1991 resulted in one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of mankind. Extreme pollution affected the soil, waters, and the air in Kuwait. In this research I try to look into how the Kuwaiti government reacted to those disasters policy wise since the end of the war. To assess the reaction of the Kuwaiti government I applied the concept of sustainable governance for its comprehensive nature that captures the complexity of environmental problems. The concept of sustainable governance has four objectives: Social objectives that aim at investing in human capitol and social capitol, Economic objectives that aim at forming economic policies in an environmentally friendly way, Environmental objectives that aim at implementing policies to protect the environment, and institutional objectives that aim at ensuring equality in government institutions. After surveying policies from the past 20 years, I conclude that the number of policies that were adopted by the Kuwaiti government to serve the 4 objectives of sustainable governance is small in size and substance. The Kuwaiti government failed to establish a policy regime to put Kuwait on a sustainable trajectory. / Graduation date: 2012

In Kuwait, an increase in the use of social media by the Kuwait National Assembly (KNA) has allowed it members to reach out to the public and so advance their political agenda. This study examines social media influences on the decision making process; addresses the lack of academic research in relation to KNA members; and seeks to understand the extent to which public political engagement using social media might affect the outcome of their decision making. The proposed social media influence model (SMIM) was used to explore the relationships and relative importance of variables influencing legislator decision making in a social media environment. The second decade of the twenty-first century saw a number of major issues emerging in Kuwait. A core mixed method design known as explanatory sequential was applied to multiple sets of data generated during KNA members' 14th (2013-2016) and 15th (2016-2018) terms. These data included Twitter messages (tweets), the KNA Information Center Parliamentary Information System legislation documents, and the news media articles. The sample was drawn from KNA membership, some of which used Twitter to comment on major events with specific hashtags and the Kuwaiti news media articles related to the same. Study results confirm and support the proposed SMIM. They also suggest that a single person or a group of individuals (in this case, legislators) can be influenced and motivated to use social media for self-promotion and/or advancing their political agenda. Consequently, they can be used to devise ways for improving the use of social media by KNA members in support of legislative work, which in turn will provide citizens with access to real-time information and enhanced political interaction.