Report No.278:An Eye on Moroccan Democratisation: Towards an Adaptation?

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This report evaluates the implications of Morocco’s political trajectory, arguing that it represents a form of adaptive governance rather than substantive democratization. It highlights Morocco’s specific model of managed pluralism, in which periodic multiparty elections function within a system of controlled pluralism. The analysis demonstrates how the democratic process operates within a specific architecture, characterized by the structuring of the margins of political competition and the centrality of the monarchy. The paper further analyzes the reconfiguration of the political landscape, specifically the consolidation of the National Rally of Independents as the country’s ‘quasi-ruling party’. The policy paper concludes with several recommendations.