Why the Success of the AKP Was Not Replicated Elsewhere? A Comparative Analysis of Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia
Why the Success of the AKP Was Not Replicated Elsewhere? A Comparative Analysis of Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia

Summary/Abstract: This article explains why the AKP in Turkey achieved durable political power, while the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Ennahda in Tunisia did not. It argues that the resilience of Islamist parties depends on the socio-economic composition of their support coalitions, which in turn reflects national patterns of economic transformation. Using export sophistication data and temporal, mechanism-based comparative analysis, this study shows that Turkey’s liberalisation fostered a rising, export-oriented Islamic bourgeoisie that became the AKP’s core base. In Egypt and Tunisia, liberalisation strengthened crony elites, leaving Islamist parties reliant on a declining professional middle class. These divergent class alignments shaped sharply different political outcomes.

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