Voices of the New Arab Public

Voices of the New Arab Public: "Can an Arab public sphere meaningfully be said to exist? If so, how is this sphere relevant in the absence of institutional mechanisms to meaningfully translate its preferences into outcomes? Marc Lynch argues in Voices of the New Arab Public that not only does an Arab public sphere exist, it is changing Arab political culture. Lynch further argues that this public sphere has introduced a new level of official accountability into a region marked by an absence of the democratic institutions that transform public preferences into policy outcomes and render public officials answerable to the public that elected them."