Free Choice and Unconventional Political Participation: A Comparative Study of Select MENA Countries

This article examines how individuals’ perceptions of free choice influence their likelihood to engage in unconventional political activism, including signing petitions, joining boycotts, demonstrations, and strikes, across transitional regimes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and how this relationship is mediated by each country’s voice and accountability score. By merging the sixth and seventh waves of the World Values Survey datasets, with a sample of more than 15,000 participants, the study employed Bayesian multilevel multivariate modeling and compared the studied countries. The main findings of the study contradict prevailing theories built on democratic contexts that emphasize a strong correlation between free choice and unconventional participation. First, the analysis revealed that perceived free choice is not a driving factor for unconventional political engagement. While there are minor correlations with joining boycotts and demonstrations, free choice shows no significant effects on signing petitions and joining strikes. Second, this relationship is not significantly mediated by the countries’ voice and accountability score. Third, the correlation exhibits a complex cubic relationship rather than a linear association.