Olja välsignelse eller förbannelse?! - en studie av oljans effekter på institutioner och institutionell förändring
AbstractOil rich states all over the world share a common feature. They are less likely than other states, depending on other resources, to be ruled democratically. In this essay Saudi Arabia has been studied with the purpose of trying to find which mechanisms that lie behind why oil rich states do not have institutions or institutional change that promotes democracy.Saudi Arabia has the world's largest known reservoir of oil. The oil brings huge revenue each year to the Saudi Arabian government. Why have Saudi Arabia not developed democratically when their economic growth suggests that to be a natural step? Under the framework of historical institutionalism and path dependency theory, I have used process tracing trying to track the mechanisms behind Saudi Arabia's authoritarian rule down. The result I found is that the oil has made it possible for the royal family to establish contracts with its citizens, and commoners and by that buy potential democratic forces off. The oil and its revenues are used to enable the house of Saud to continue down the path of absolute monarchy that was set when Saudi Arabia was founded 1932.Key words: Saudi Arabia, Path Dependency, Oil, Democracy, Contract (social, commoners and religious).Characters: 69 806