Economic Reform, Social Welfare, Civic Society and Islamists in Morocco

Abstract

Morocco, like many other Middle Eastern and North African states, has a long history of populist state welfare provision in the form of an implicit Social Contract whereby the state provides for its citizens in return for loyalty to the regime. However, although the country has made huge strides since independence in improving social welfare, most of its social welfare indicators remain below those of comparable lower middle-income countries. This is because state welfare provision, although based on a populist model, has been biased towards urban areas and the better off.