Economic Policy and Authoritarian Resilience in Algeria
This article examines the contradiction at the heart of rentier states, which are divided between the need to radically reform an economy exclusively dependent on gas and oil and the waverings of the ruling elite, who wish to remain in power and thus reap virtually all the benefits of these resources. Drawing on the case of Algeria, this article reassesses the still vital contribution of the rentier state theory (despite critiques lodged against it) in explaining the region’s unique political dynamics, particularly with regard to authoritarian resilience.