Syria

Syria is located in the Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea between Lebanon and Turkey, on a land area slightly larger than North Dakota. The population of Syria was about 22 million in 2010.

[Page 839]The First Republic in Syria began with its independence in 1946 until 1958, when Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab Republic. Although this First Republic experienced several military coups, none led to fundamental changes in the political regime, which remained liberal and republican. The officers involved in these coups sought to legitimize their governments through constitutional and parliamentary measures. Hosni al-Za'im's first coup in 1949 and Adib al-Shishakli's coup in late 1952 are such cases.

The Second Republic began with the Egyptian-Syrian Union in 1958 and ended with the Ba'ath Party takeover on March 8, 1963. Constitutional institutions in the Second Republic were structured in ways similar to those in other revolutionary states of the time. The prioritizing of socialism over pluralist republicanism was justified by the concept of revolutionary democracy. Gamel Abdel al-Nasser's Egypt insisted that the union between the two countries should be integrative. Syria voluntarily scrapped all political parties, dissolved its democratically elected parliament, and shelved its relatively free press. Although this unhappy union lasted only from 1958 to 1961, its impact on the consciousness of Syria's political elites was profound. The constitutional institutions that operated in Syria before 1958 were never restored.

The “Days of Rage” Facebook page urges protest of Syrian corruption, emboldened by social networking in other countries.

The Third Republic, since 1963, has consolidated one-party, authoritarian rule by the innovative means of management and control.

Since he came to power in 1970, the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad managed to centralize power during his 30 years of rule. He centralized the state's legislative, judicial, and executive institutions, eliminating all balance of power and pluralism that previously existed. The new presidential system revolved around Hafez's personality and will. He built networks of social, economic, and military interests on the basis of personal loyalty to the president. These networks existed on the margin of—or totally outside—state institutions.

The sociopolitical origins of the Syrian elite reach back to the 1950s, when Syria witnessed a population explosion. Population growth rates rose to 4.4 percent in the 1960s from 3.5 percent in the 1950s. This increase was greatest in Damascus and Aleppo. The population of Latakia doubled between 1960 and 1970. Increased rates of education in rural areas caused a new class to migrate to major cities to improve their social status. However, these cities did not develop productive, industrial, or agrarian projects capable of absorbing the influx from the countryside that would have eased their assimilation into the urban social fabric. As a result, many resorted to employment in various state institutions—particularly the army and security agencies—which do not require educational or scientific qualifications. Syrian cities grew larger at the expense of their hinterlands, with migrants bringing their traditions and lifestyles with them; as few migrants integrated into native urban society, city life acquired rural characteristics. This phenomenon weakened urban traditions in Syria's cities, while rural culture did not change to forms amenable to modern urban society. The new migrants remained in conflict with the urban elite.

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