Political Legitimacy in Rentier States:

Political Legitimacy in Rentier States:

The nature of the relationship between Rentier states and their citizens is very straightforward and depends on the circulation of the revenue collected from natural resources. Unlike other governments that are not blessed with natural resources, rentier states do not depend on domestic taxation as the main source of revenue. The national budget relies on nontax revenues such as oil revenues, aid and loans. In the case of the MENA region, revenues are often obtained from exporting oil and gas. However, unlike the oil-exporter countries, there are some rentier states such as Jordan and Syria that rely on another type of rent—loan and foreign aid—to fund their budget.  

As a result, rentier states do not heavily depend on the population to ensure a functioning economy. It is rather the opposite. The population depends on a well-functioning government to ensure individuals’ well-being. This makes rentier states financially independent from their citizens, which gives the government legitimacy over their population. In other words, it disconnects the state from its citizens.

On the other hand, and although the state is able to buy its independence from its citizens, it is crucial to emphasize that its national independence is bought at a price of an international dependence. The different kinds of rents—be they loans, oil and gas exports or aid—come with either risk or conditions. In global and interconnected economic systems, oil prices are prone to fluctuation. Therefore, having an undiversified economy that depends highly on natural resources as the main revenue is extremely risky. This is because the relation between a rentier state and its population functions as long as money is flowing to individuals in forms of entitlements, which could be seen as a bargain. Once that relationship of bargain is jeopardized and the state is no longer able to ensure a good financial well-being of its citizens, people will start revolting and the country will plunge into a period of political instability. 

As explained in Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World book, the phenomenon of rentier state does not ensure stability nor does it depoliticize the society. It simply reduces the need for a rentier government to respond to a requested political change. The fact that rentier states are not heavily dependent on its domestic work force, they could ignore the need for political reforms. Therefore, to finally answer the question: yes I believe rentier states have more political legitimacy in the eyes of their citizens as long money keeps flowing from the government to its population. Sustaining this relation does not disconnect citizens and does not reduce their political involvement; it just gives the government the choice to ignore the need for political change.