The Algerian political system and the state’s administrative structure have been remarkably stable since independence in 1962. At the same time, many imbalances that resulted in the political and economic crisis of the 1980s and the subsequent civil war have persisted.
Amongst the institutions that have maintained stability, the military and security apparatus is the strongest and predates independent Algeria. It is the main player in the political game, either directly or indirectly. The army’s predominance followed from the intransigence of the French and their obstruction of more reformist ways of extending the native population’s rights, which left armed struggle as their only practical option. This does not mean that other institutions are irrelevant. The state’s administrative system, with all its weaknesses, does function, extending to the level of local communities in every corner of the country. Some institutions, such as the diplomatic services, have proven particularly successful.
Political System
Algeria has a presidential system. Most presidents so far played a role in theindependence movement and the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN). Perhaps more importantly, the president has always either been a member of the military establishment or been endorsed by the army. This does not mean that the heads of state have lacked popular support.
Formally, the President has substantial powers and may overrule other power centres. In reaching decisions, he has to agree with the heads of the military and security apparatus. This makes the Algerian system a far more collective enterprise than those of many other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where the President personifies the system. It appears that this state of affairs has actually strengthened the position of the President and the entire system. Protesters and political opponents, for example, usually demand changes in what they refer to as le pouvoir (the power), instead of demanding the resignation of the President, as they expect that change at the top does not fundamentally alter the workings of Algerian politics.
Legal SystemThe Algerian legal system is based on European traditions and, to a lesser extent, on Islamic law (Sharia). In colonial times, the French judicial system prevailed, but local courts could still refer to Islamic law in civil and family-law cases. At independence, theNational Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN) wanted to reduce the French influence, but found it difficult. Things were further complicated by the reference to both socialism and Islam during the Boumedienne era. Most controversial, however, were the efforts by his successor, President Bendjedid, to introduce a Family Law in which Islamic elements prevailed and the judicial position of women was weakened. In 2005, the law was revised to give women more rights in matters of inheritance and child custody. Judicial reform at the end of the 1980s expanded civic rights, although some of these freedoms were revoked by the security regulations introduced with the state of emergency in 1992.
Judges are appointed by the Minister of Justice. The Algerian system comprises courts at the level of municipalities, courts of appeal located in the capitals of the 48 provinces (wilayat), and the Supreme Court.
Local GovernmentAlgeria consists of 48 provinces, which are divided into 1,541 municipalities. Although executive powers are rather centralized, the provincial governor (wali) is a powerful figure in the Algerian political system. The provincial and municipal councils are elected directly. Local elections were held most recently in November 2012.
After a period of strong centralization during the Boumedienne era, his successor,President Bendjedid, expanded the prerogatives of local government as part of his policy to promote the development of the regions outside the major cities.
Political Parties
Traditional Parties:
Until 1989 Algeria had a single-party system dominated by the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN). At the time of Boumedienne’s rule, the small Algerian Communist Party (Parti Communiste Algérien) was allowed to be active, up to a certain point. Shortly after independence, one of the FLN’s historic leaders, Hocine Aït Ahmed, founded the Socialist Forces Front (Front des Forces Socialistes, FFS), which gained legal recognition only in 1989. The sudden liberalization between 1989 and 1991 saw the proliferation of many other political organizations, most importantly theIslamic Salvation Front (Front Islamique du Salut, FIS), which has been banned since it was declared illegal in 1992. With the resumption of parliamentary elections in 1997, many parties were allowed to compete, but this pluralism has not translated into a reallocation of power. The election outcomes are often heavily contested by the opposition, as well as by NGOs and in the media. Formal and informal restrictions make it difficult for parties to wield real power. The opposition therefore struggles repeatedly with the question of whether or not to take part in elections.
The 2012 parliamentary elections resulted in a major victory for the FLN, which, together with the National Democratic Rally (Rassemblement National Démocratique, RND), obtained an absolute majority of seats. The Islamist block scored far lower than predicted, especially by its leadership, while the FFS declared that its 20 seats were in line with expectations. More significant still was the level of participation, as reported by the government, of only 42 percent, with far lower turnouts in the capital. This sign of distrust was compounded by strong protests by the opposition, which accused the government of widespread fraud and manipulation of the elections.
Islamists:
The ban on the FIS in 1992 did not spell the end of Islamist party activism. While the military and political leadership blamed the Front for all the violence that followed the cancellation of the elections at the time, they did not prevent other proponents of political Islam from taking part in formal political life. This has much to do with the huge, often overlooked, differences within the Islamist current that already existed when the FIS came into existence. Some leading Islamists, such as Sheikh Mahfoud Nahnah, strongly opposed the radical populism of the FIS and instead promoted a strategy of gradual Islamization of society. He founded his own party, which later came to be known as the Movement for the Society of Peace (Mouvement de la Société pour la Paix, MSP; formerly called Hamas). Under his successors, the MSP has been a partner in several coalition governments. In 2012 it entered a union with two other Islamist parties, under the banner of the Green Algeria Alliance (Alliance de l’Algérie Verte, green being the colour of Islam).
Amongst the institutions that have maintained stability, the military and security apparatus is the strongest and predates independent Algeria. It is the main player in the political game, either directly or indirectly. The army’s predominance followed from the intransigence of the French and their obstruction of more reformist ways of extending the native population’s rights, which left armed struggle as their only practical option. This does not mean that other institutions are irrelevant. The state’s administrative system, with all its weaknesses, does function, extending to the level of local communities in every corner of the country. Some institutions, such as the diplomatic services, have proven particularly successful.
Political System
Algeria has a presidential system. Most presidents so far played a role in theindependence movement and the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN). Perhaps more importantly, the president has always either been a member of the military establishment or been endorsed by the army. This does not mean that the heads of state have lacked popular support.
Formally, the President has substantial powers and may overrule other power centres. In reaching decisions, he has to agree with the heads of the military and security apparatus. This makes the Algerian system a far more collective enterprise than those of many other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where the President personifies the system. It appears that this state of affairs has actually strengthened the position of the President and the entire system. Protesters and political opponents, for example, usually demand changes in what they refer to as le pouvoir (the power), instead of demanding the resignation of the President, as they expect that change at the top does not fundamentally alter the workings of Algerian politics.
Legal SystemThe Algerian legal system is based on European traditions and, to a lesser extent, on Islamic law (Sharia). In colonial times, the French judicial system prevailed, but local courts could still refer to Islamic law in civil and family-law cases. At independence, theNational Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN) wanted to reduce the French influence, but found it difficult. Things were further complicated by the reference to both socialism and Islam during the Boumedienne era. Most controversial, however, were the efforts by his successor, President Bendjedid, to introduce a Family Law in which Islamic elements prevailed and the judicial position of women was weakened. In 2005, the law was revised to give women more rights in matters of inheritance and child custody. Judicial reform at the end of the 1980s expanded civic rights, although some of these freedoms were revoked by the security regulations introduced with the state of emergency in 1992.
Judges are appointed by the Minister of Justice. The Algerian system comprises courts at the level of municipalities, courts of appeal located in the capitals of the 48 provinces (wilayat), and the Supreme Court.
Local GovernmentAlgeria consists of 48 provinces, which are divided into 1,541 municipalities. Although executive powers are rather centralized, the provincial governor (wali) is a powerful figure in the Algerian political system. The provincial and municipal councils are elected directly. Local elections were held most recently in November 2012.
After a period of strong centralization during the Boumedienne era, his successor,President Bendjedid, expanded the prerogatives of local government as part of his policy to promote the development of the regions outside the major cities.
Political Parties
Traditional Parties:
Until 1989 Algeria had a single-party system dominated by the National Liberation Front (Front de Libération Nationale, FLN). At the time of Boumedienne’s rule, the small Algerian Communist Party (Parti Communiste Algérien) was allowed to be active, up to a certain point. Shortly after independence, one of the FLN’s historic leaders, Hocine Aït Ahmed, founded the Socialist Forces Front (Front des Forces Socialistes, FFS), which gained legal recognition only in 1989. The sudden liberalization between 1989 and 1991 saw the proliferation of many other political organizations, most importantly theIslamic Salvation Front (Front Islamique du Salut, FIS), which has been banned since it was declared illegal in 1992. With the resumption of parliamentary elections in 1997, many parties were allowed to compete, but this pluralism has not translated into a reallocation of power. The election outcomes are often heavily contested by the opposition, as well as by NGOs and in the media. Formal and informal restrictions make it difficult for parties to wield real power. The opposition therefore struggles repeatedly with the question of whether or not to take part in elections.
The 2012 parliamentary elections resulted in a major victory for the FLN, which, together with the National Democratic Rally (Rassemblement National Démocratique, RND), obtained an absolute majority of seats. The Islamist block scored far lower than predicted, especially by its leadership, while the FFS declared that its 20 seats were in line with expectations. More significant still was the level of participation, as reported by the government, of only 42 percent, with far lower turnouts in the capital. This sign of distrust was compounded by strong protests by the opposition, which accused the government of widespread fraud and manipulation of the elections.
Islamists:
The ban on the FIS in 1992 did not spell the end of Islamist party activism. While the military and political leadership blamed the Front for all the violence that followed the cancellation of the elections at the time, they did not prevent other proponents of political Islam from taking part in formal political life. This has much to do with the huge, often overlooked, differences within the Islamist current that already existed when the FIS came into existence. Some leading Islamists, such as Sheikh Mahfoud Nahnah, strongly opposed the radical populism of the FIS and instead promoted a strategy of gradual Islamization of society. He founded his own party, which later came to be known as the Movement for the Society of Peace (Mouvement de la Société pour la Paix, MSP; formerly called Hamas). Under his successors, the MSP has been a partner in several coalition governments. In 2012 it entered a union with two other Islamist parties, under the banner of the Green Algeria Alliance (Alliance de l’Algérie Verte, green being the colour of Islam).
(Design by Farwa Rizwan/ Al Arabiya News)
Since the civil war the country is quite stable, even after the Arab Spring the country didn't go through any kind of social unrest. However the governance still has to improve as the effect of the latter on the country are still too low.
Below you can find the indicators of good governance created by the World Bank.
This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for a single country. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering i) Voice and Accountability, ii) Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism, iii) Government Effectiveness, iv) Regulatory Quality, v) Rule of Law, and vi) Control of Corruption.
The line graphs on each page show the country's percentile rank on each of the six governance indicators. Percentile ranks indicate the percentage of countries worldwide that rank lower than the indicated country, so that higher values indicate better governance scores. The line graphs include margins of error shown as dashed lines, corresponding to 90% confidence intervals. Changes over time in the aggregate scores that are small relative to these margins of error should not be interpreted as signalling a statistically significant change in the indicators.
Below you can find the indicators of good governance created by the World Bank.
This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for a single country. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering i) Voice and Accountability, ii) Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism, iii) Government Effectiveness, iv) Regulatory Quality, v) Rule of Law, and vi) Control of Corruption.
The line graphs on each page show the country's percentile rank on each of the six governance indicators. Percentile ranks indicate the percentage of countries worldwide that rank lower than the indicated country, so that higher values indicate better governance scores. The line graphs include margins of error shown as dashed lines, corresponding to 90% confidence intervals. Changes over time in the aggregate scores that are small relative to these margins of error should not be interpreted as signalling a statistically significant change in the indicators.
