Political development in Kuwait : continuity and change in an Arab independent Gulf state

This thesis is primarily concerned with political development in Kuwait since the 1961 Treaty with Britain. It provides a substantial historical introduction in the first two chapters and then examines the drafting of a constitution and the creation of a legislative assembly, the composition and work of the assembly and its committees, relations with the government, and the impact of the assembly on its powers. It discusses the suspension of the National Assembly in 1976 and the elections to the new Assembly of 1981. The argument of the thesis is that in spite of the impact of oil wealth (whose impact on government and society is discussed) political behaviour in Kuwait can only be understood in the context of the continuity of development from the earliest days, particularly in the position of the ruling family within Kuwaiti society, the tradition of shūrā (consultation)and the degree of practical independence which were established before 1961 and have been modified but not abandoned since then. It has therefore been the intention of this thesis to avoid the general preoccupations of 'political modernization', and to examine political development in Kuwait in terms of the existing relations among the main social groups comprising Kuwaiti society. It is thus an examination of how a merchant-city-state has been transformed into a modern constitutional monarchy, and the way in which its main social groups have continued to operate within a new constitutional framework