is civil society possible in the middle eastern areas? max weber maintained that the middle east culture's norm were incompatible with the rational character of capitalism and democracy. the paper examines the argument in terms of the possibility of theoretical formulations on civil society that has three organizations. to this end, two countries, egypt and the saudi arabia, were selected. although the two states have very different political bodies, that is egypt is the republic and the saudi arabia the kingdom, all the governments maintain authoritarian systems. and then, the paper reviews the historical record of two countries' civilization in order to argue the emergence of civil society although the notion of civil society is western in origin. in the middle east, there have historically been three civil society organizations: the clergy(ulama), tribes and tribal confederacies, and traditional merchants (the bazaaris). they have enjoyed considerable autonomy and independence from the state.
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