The Status of People's Right to Vote in Wahhabism with an Emphasis on the Saudi Arabia's Reaction to Islamic Awakening in the Middle East and North Africa

Wahhabism, as a religious and political phenomenon, with its dominance upon Arabian Peninsula since the eighteen century, has had decisive impact on the socio- political life of its people and government. In this paper our purpose is to describe Wahhabism and its roots and the status of people`s right to vote in it, address the theoretical origin of authoritarianism in Saudi`s political system and examine the impact of Wahhabism on the system’s reaction to the Islamic awakening in the Middle East and North Africa. Our hypothesis is that Wahhabism has caused the political system of Saudi Arabia to be seriously challenged by Islamic awakening in the region because of the latter’s conspicuous characteristic, that is democracy or people`s right to political participation and to vote in the political process.