Abstract
In July 2021, the democratically elected President Kais Saied announced a state of emergency and started a process of dismantling democratic institutions in Tunisia. The development in Tunisia can be seen in relation to a global rise in autocratization in recent years. This has led to a growing literature on autocratization, but it is limited in its understanding of the dynamics of autocratization and civil society resistance. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap by an in-depth analysis of civil society response to autocratization in Tunisia. Through a qualitative case study, this thesis seeks to explore what characterises the process of autocratization and what characterises and explains civil society response to autocratization in Tunisia. This thesis argues for understanding of autocratization and civil society response as a relational, contentious, and open-ended process. By examining strategies of autocratization and discursive legitimisation and how these affect the strategies, frames and political space of civil society actors, this thesis highlights the contentious dynamics of civil society response to autocratization. It finds that civil society resistance has been slow, soft, and fragmented in response to a partial, gradual but swift process of autocratization. By considering elements of legitimisation, counterframing and interpretation and institutional changes and strategies of autocratization and resistance, the material and discursive aspects of these processes are emphasised. Lastly, the case study accentuates that autocratization and civil society response must be viewed in relation to the substance and quality of democracy.