Reporters Without Borders is very worried by the Jordanian government's approval of a bill last week that would radically change the existing media legislation and drastically restrict freedom of information. Parliament is due to begin considering the bill on 2 September.
"We are disturbed by the decline in freedom of information in Jordan and, in particular, the government's proposed changes to the press and broadcasting code. Politicians should not interfere in journalists’ work. Media independence is one of the foundations of freedom of information. We call on parliament to reject this repressive bill.
"The new provisions are like a sword poised over the head of every journalist. They show that the authorities are determined to bring journalists and their news media to heel, so that dissident views get as little exposure as possible."
The bill would make the 1998 press and publications code much tougher, especially articles 38, 42, 48 and 49. Under the amended articles, the officials in charge of enforcing them would have more authority to restrict the freedom of expression of media that are deemed to have acted outside the law.

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What does it mean that no Kings have thus far fallen in the Arab uprisings while four non-monarchical rulers (Ben Ali, Mubarak, Qaddafi and Saleh) have toppled from their (non-royal) thrones and a fifth has plunged his country into a brutal civil war? Is there a monarchical exception in the Arab world? The significance of monarchy has been one of the most vibrant debates among political scientists over the last two years, as I wrote about a few months ago. A new article in the Journal of Politics by Victor Menaldo claiming statistical evidence for a monarchical advantage prompted me to revisit these arguments this week.

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