1. Policy-Making in a Transformative State: The Case of Qatar

In this book, we explore in detail how public policy is made in Qatar, within the context of what we will call a transformative state. If we simply assume that Qatar is an autocracy, ruled completely by the Al-Thani family, the answer to the policy-making question is also quite simple: policy is what the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani says it is. As the chapters in this book will show, the real answer is more complicated, and indeed other analysts have tried to come to grips with the nuances of the Qatari reality by using qualified descriptions of the system such as “late rentier,” “pluralized autocracy,” “tribal democracy,” or “soft authoritarian.” Most importantly, for our analysis, Qatar is deliberately engaged in a rapid process of societal transformation. That process has its contradictions and tensions, particularly with regards to achieving a balance between Islam, social traditions, and modernity. But it also has a specific policy dynamic of generating ideas and institutions, developing policy and program designs, and implementation and coordination.