UniversitédeMontréal State-ControlledEconomy:AnObstacletooraCatalystforDemocracy?A

Yet, as elucidated by Eva Bellin, the democratic transitions in the region are stymied in the Middle East primarily due to the coercive apparatus of states that have the will and the capacity of the state to repress popular movements; the will and capacity of the state’s coercive 19 apparatus to suppress democratic initiative have extinguished the possibility of transition. [...] The robustness of this coercive apparatus of the state depends on two factors: the capacity of the state to repress (i.e., the access to rents) and the will of the state to repress. [...] Simultaneously, one of the inherent characteristics of rentier economies of the Middle East is the lack of a strong and independent private sector under the control of the middle class to counteract the state power. [...] Is the private sector squeezed by the institutional and judicial arrangements? What per cent of the GDP is in the hands of the private sector? 3.2.4 From the Capacity to Repress to the Will to Repress: The Coercive Apparatus The previous sub-sections have exposed the conditions that make the state more autonomous from society, thus reinforcing its capacity to repress. [...] One of the most obvious gauges of the power of the private sector is the share of private sector as the percentage of the total GDP.