SAUDI ARABIA

BENJAMIN MULLEN, PATTERSON JAFFURS

5/26/2016

Brief History

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia established after

the fall of the Ottoman Empire
Officially founded in 1932
Very poor until discovery of oil deposits in
1938

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy

No legally binding constitution
Quran and Sunnah governs
Informal Constitution known as the
Basic Law (est. 1992)
Only a male descendant of Abdul Aziz
Al Saud may rule
Riyadh is capital city
5% Shia & 95% Sunni

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

(2015 - PRESENT)
Served first as governor of Riyadh
Province
Head of State, Head of Government,
Commander-in-Chief
Combines executive, judicial,
legislative power
Council of Ministers
Royal family has most of the power
Role is passed down
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Consultative Assembly (Majilis as-Shura or

Shura Council)
150 members
Appointed by King for 4-year renewable
terms
Advises King on issues
Deals with human rights, education, culture,
health, services, finance, etc
Women recently able to serve on council
King has ultimate legislative power

JUDICIAL BRANCH

Administers justice according to Sharia Law

Three major parts: Shariah Courts, Board of Grievances,
various committees
Shariahah Courts hear most cases
Board of Grievances deals with government cases,
secular
Led by Supreme Council of Justice with 12 senior jurists
King is the highest court of appeal
Judges have wide discretion in judicial interpretation

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Divided into 13 provinces

Can elect municipal councilors
Slightly more democratic
Each has their own governor and
deputy
Governors and deputies are part of
the royal family
Provincial offices are open to the
public

ELECTORAL PROCESS

Municipal council elections every 4 years

The role of the King is passed down
Half the council members have to be chosen by elections
Age 21 and over
Recently women were granted the right to vote and join legislative council

POLITICAL PARTIES

Total of 16 political parties(not

official)
Technically these parties have little
to no influence as Saudi Arabia is
an absolute monarchy
The King has absolute say in what
goes on
Technically political parties are
banned
Petitions have been made to allow
political parties with no luck

CURRENT ISSUES

Deeply ingrained corruption in all

levels of government
Extremely poor human rights
conditions
The Economists 2010 Democracy
index ranks Saudi Arabia as the
7th most authoritarian regime out
of 167 countries
Women have few rights

POLITICAL THEORY

New Institutionalism
Islam is part of the government
Not much political cultural since political parties are
banned
People have little control, institutionalized