The Merchant Elite and Parliamentary Politics in Kuwait: the dynamics of business political participation in a rentier state

When applied to the Gulf region in general and Kuwait more specifically, the rentier state theory stipulates that the political relations between state and business are determined by the rent. Thus, business ceases to represent a strong political force and withdraws from the formal political field in exchange for wealth provided by the state. However, the evidence from Kuwait’s recent history suggests that there is great variation between the patterns of political engagement in Kuwait’s merchant families. Through the analysis of Kuwait’s business politics it will be defined which factors explain why some merchant families engage in parliamentary politics, while others do not, and why at times the merchant community allies with the opposition, and at others with the government.

Anastasia Nosova is a PhD candidate in Political Science in London School of Economics, Department of Government. Her thesis is dedicated to the dynamics of political participation of the business sector in Kuwait. She did her Masters degree in Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter, and was previously working as an associate research fellow in the ESRC-funded project Re-negotiating the Social Contract in the GCC: State-Business Relations and Reforms in the Oil-Rentier Gulf Monarchies.

Courtney Freer (@courtneyfreer) is a Research Officer with the LSE Kuwait Programme.

The Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation (@LSEKuwait) in the Gulf States is a ten year multidisciplinary global research programme.

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LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.