1945-

The purpose of this paper is to bypass the generalizations surrounding the Arab democracy deficit in order to gain a better understanding of the variables that interact to produce the unusual stability and duration of Arab authoritarian regimes. A critical cross-case analysis is used to examine the Middle East's two most enduring regimes: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Republic of Egypt. The survival of these regimes is comprehensible in terms of manipulation of Islamic precepts, control of economic development, and external support, chiefly from the United States.

By now, a vast literature has attempted to answer the question of whether democracy is conducive to economic growth. The empirical side of the literature has not come to any consensus on this issue. My thesis examines Argentina's economic and political history from 1960 to the present, including particularly volatile episodes with many military regimes. Specifically, I attempt to contribute to the democracy-growth literature by examining whether Argentina's level of democracy affected its economic growth. Controlling for a number of factors, I construct an econometric model that focuses on GDP as the dependent variable and democracy as the independent variable of interest. I claim that there is no correlation between Argentina's economic growth and its level of democracy.