Governance and Public Policy in the Middle East North Africa: Digital Innovation, Local Power Reforms

This collection examines how power, institutions, and technology reshape governance in the Middle East and North Africa. Reform appears as a political craft: shaped by historical legacies, power configurations, and administrative capacity. The chapters trace how authority is organised, how capacity is built and used, and the fragility of policy designs and how they hold - or fail - under pressure and in crisis. The volume moves across levels: constitutional rules, administrative systems, frontline delivery, and the digital state. It shows how hybrid arrangements emerge when central control meets local power, and how data, AI, and platforms can enable coordination yet also invite new forms of oversight. The result is a comparative account of when reform travels, what adapts, and where path dependence resists change. Governance and Public Policy in the Middle East and North Africa is an essential read for scholars and students of comparative politics, public policy and administration, development studies, and MENA studies. It is also beneficial for policy practitioners and analysts seeking actionable advice informed by regional governance dynamics and institutional change processes.