Print Media Liberalization and Electoral Coverage Bias in Kuwait

The article discusses the political effect of print media liberalization in Kuwait based on content analysis of Arabic language newspapers in the 2009 parliamentary election. The analysis found no systematic favoring of pro-government candidates in electoral coverage, but did find a statistically significant bias for candidates from the ruling, non-Bedouin hadari class, at the expense of the Bedouin tribal population. This article points to there being structural obstacles to democracy in Kuwait that cannot be overcome only by the liberalization of the press through legislation.