Public Opinion and Political Response in Palestine: Leadership, Campaigns and Elections since Arafat

by Erika Schwarze

Overview

The 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, the first in which both Fatah and Hamas fielded candidates, resulted in a resounding victory for Hamas. Winning 74 out of the 132 seats (compared to Fatah s 45), Hamas election strategy had proved effective against Fatah s ineffectual campaign and failure to properly consider public opinion. Erika Schwarze offers here an in-depth examination of these two separate campaigns, and how Fatah s lack of responsiveness to the popular mood in the run-up to elections following Arafat s death and beyond, led to its defeat in spite of its considerable experience of electioneering. She analyses the conduct of Palestinian leadership during this critical period, exploring the reasons for Fatah s inability to prioritise responsiveness to public opinion, and providing insights into the movement s electoral prospects in the future and its chances of survival and revival."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857729828
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	12/18/2015
Series:	Library of Modern Middle East Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	589 KB

About the Author

Erika Schwarze worked in Palestine throughout the 1990s, including managing civic education programmes in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for the German Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in the run-up to, and following, Palestine s first parliamentary elections in 1996. She holds a PhD in Middle East Politics from the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University and now works on Indigenous environment programmes for the Australian Government."

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Overarching influences on responsiveness: Fragmentation, rentierism and the role of civil society

Chapter 3: Legitimation and responsiveness in Palestinian politics

Chapter 4: Leadership styles and responsiveness

Chapter 5: Polling, responsiveness and leadership crisis

Chapter 6: Polling: Opportunities and risks

Chapter 7: Responsiveness in the 2006 PLC elections: The case of Hamas

Chapter 8: Responsiveness in the 2006 PLC elctions: The case of Fatah

Conclusion

Postscript and outlook