The origins of Kuwait’s national assembly

Why does Kuwait have a powerful national parliament while the other Gulf monarchies do not? In this paper I explore several explanations for Kuwait’s National Assembly, addressing works by Jill Crystal, Sean Yom and others. I argue that the Iraqi threat had a crucial role during two historical episodes: the writing of the constitution in 1962, and the restoration of the constitution after liberation from Iraqi occupation. In the conclusion, I explore the lessons of the Kuwaiti case for the prospects for reform in the other five oil-rich monarchies of the Gulf. This paper draws on research presented in my book The Wages of Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE (2014).