This book examines the processes of economic and political reform in Tunisia, placing the current policies of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali within their historical context. The book develops a theoretical understanding of the relationship between economic liberalisation and political change in the Arab world, developing the concept of the disarticulation of the corporatist state and concluding that, despite efforts at democratization, an authoritarian political system is a more likely successor in the era of economic transformation.