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Policy-Making in Qatar: The Macro-Policy Framework

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Policy-Making in a Transformative State

Abstract

This chapter discusses what many may consider an oxymoron: policy-making in a monarchy. To an outsider, policy in Qatar must simply be what the emir says it is. Chapter 2 has outlined some of the institutional features of the Qatari political system, and while it is indeed led by the Al-Thani tribe and it is dominated by the Emir, that is not the full story. Every political system, no matter how apparently centralized and controlled, has its factions, interests, power differentials, and internal dynamics. Overlaying this universal reality are several other specific factors: (1) the formal commitments that the Qatari state has made to democratization, albeit limited and delayed; (2) the evident examples of unrest in other countries in the region, starting with the Arab Spring, that have destabilized regimes or at least threatened them; and (3) the imperatives of managing rapid and massive social and economic development. These factors pose challenges even to a Gulf monarchy—essentially the same challenges that most governments face in developing, designing, and implementing public policies that will both satisfy their populations and generate enough wealth to sustain the polity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Crystal (1995: 6) argues, “There are always moments when the state develops a high degree of autonomy from its social bases.... But oil-based states are unusual in that their higher degree of autonomy from other social groupings is... part of a structurally determined, ongoing process.”

  2. 2.

    Academics have argued that the unintended consequences of both the allocation and the diversification policies of the rentier state would empower various bureaucratic or citizen groups, which would allow these groups to stymie state policy or pressure the state to accede to their demands. Richards and Waterbury (2008: 17) describe this process succinctly: “Oil rents are politically centralizing. However, as the revenues are spent, new domestic actors emerge (as contractors, agents, recipients of subsidies) who, in turn, begin to limit the freedom of maneuver of the state. This is a very typical pattern; state autonomy may rise in a particular conjuncture but then typically will decline with its exercise over time.” Crystal (1995: 189) elaborates: “Oil revenues have allowed rulers to create new state institutions, but bureaucracies are never neutral: as these institutions grow in size and complexity, they are becoming less amenable to control through ruling kinship networks. The ruling houses and the state administrations, though they coexist and exercise jurisdiction over the same populations, are not identical. Bureaucrats have the potential for developing their own centers of power, social relationships, and political ideals and goals. An unintended ramification is a potential loss of control over the population by the rulers as this control is increasingly mediated by a possibly disloyal bureaucracy.”

  3. 3.

    These surveys were made possible by two grants (UREP 12-016-5-007 and UREP 15-035-5-013) from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.

  4. 4.

    The 2014 survey sampled only Qatari females (due to the nature of the research grant). The increased interest among Qatari women, relative to Qatari men, in having greater say in the educational systems also drove the result in 2013: broken down by gender, approximately 70 % of women and only 44 % of men desired more say in the K–12 reforms, with a similar (slightly lower) ratio of responses for the Qatar University reforms.

  5. 5.

    At time of writing (May 2015) the mid-term report for the QNDS has yet to be released. It will cast more light on both implementation mechanisms and actual results.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwestern University in Qatar, Doha, Qatar

    Jocelyn Sage Mitchell

  2. School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Leslie A. Pal

Authors
  1. Jocelyn Sage Mitchell
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  2. Leslie A. Pal
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar

    M. Evren Tok

  2. Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development, Doha, Qatar

    Lolwah R. M. Alkhater

  3. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Leslie A. Pal

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Mitchell, J.S., Pal, L.A. (2016). Policy-Making in Qatar: The Macro-Policy Framework. In: Tok, M., Alkhater, L., Pal, L. (eds) Policy-Making in a Transformative State. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46639-6_3

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