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RésuméL’exigence de démocratisation a permis d’élargir des expériences anciennes de participation politique, par exemple au Bahreïn ou au Koweït. En Oman, en Arabie Saoudite même, un certain dialogue national semble se nouer. Plus que le succès de la démocratisation, ces mouvements paraissent davantage en marquer les limites : les régimes autoritaires aménagent la cohabitation avec leurs opposants. Cette cohabitation pourrait pourtant souffrir de la crise, déjà ouverte, des États providence du Golfe.

The oil-kingdoms of the Gulf have been very responsive to the Bush Administration’s appeal to democratization. As a matter of fact, countries like Kuwait and Bahrain have quite a long experience in political participation as their regimes always had to deal with vivid civil societies. However, while both countries have elected parliaments, their democratic institutions have always had to fight against the authoritarian tendencies of the rulers. Indeed, the latter conceive political participation as a way to strengthen their power. The need is all the more urgent for them now that the welfare state they set up following the oil-boom of the 1970s is on the verge of collapse, putting in question the notion of citizenship as a set of exclusively social rights.