The electoral issue and the Question of Democratic Transition in Morocco: The Legislative and Communal Elections of the Year 2021 as a sample

Abstract

 This study aims to analyse the inputs and outputs of legislative (parliament) and collective (municipalities) elections organized in Morocco on September 08th, 2021 in the light of the variables of the neo-institutional approach related to the triad of: “institution, interest and ideas” or what is termed the "three I" theory. These variables allow us to reveal the institutional weight of the executive authority on the electoral process in Morocco. This latter hide a conflict of interests between the system of politicians’ actors, which is governed by a network of conflicting interests and disparate political bets. It is a conflict that is reproduced at every elective event, and is fostered continuously with the referential ideas that those politicians’ actors hold about the function of the electoral process. These three elements explain the limitations of elections in achieving the desired democratic transition. This necessitates the empowerment of political representation institutions to exercise real authority, the assignment of electoral administration to an independent and neutral body, and the provision of a climate of rights and freedoms as fundamental prerequisites to enhance the transitional role of elections.