A Long Road to Democracy : A qualitative case study on the role of the diasporas within theTunisian political left

Abstract: This paper examines the political participation of diaspora representatives in Tunisia’s politicalparties with affiliations to the Tunisian labor movement. The study is based on qualitativeinterviews with active politicians and other stakeholders in Tunis as well as participatoryobservations. The findings point towards decreased political participation among the diaspora,although their engagement during the years following the revolution of 2011 can be considered tohave been relatively high. The diminishing participation of the diaspora seems to be part of alarger trend that can explained by the fluid and rather underdeveloped system of political partiesthat has created difficulties in forming an efficient opposition, which has given rise to politicalapathy that has been efficiently exploited by anti-democratic candidates in Tunisia.