الطبقة الوسطى وأثرها على الاستقرار السياسي في الأردن(1990-2006)

Abstract

Middle Class and It's Impact on Political Stability in Jordan (1990 –006)By Dr. Omar Yaseen Khoudirat, Assistant ProfessorAl – Balqa' Applied University, Irbid University College, Jordan.The study aimed at investigating the size of middle class in Jordan and its relationship with political and economic stability indicators for the period (1990-2006) as a study and application field. The study was based on the hypothesis of the existence of a statistically significant relationship between middle class and political stability indicators, namely, the bigger the middle class size is, the more political stability in Jordan there is, and vice versa. The study had the following sub-hypotheses: there is a positive relationship between economic deprivation and political instability; there is a positive relationship between political deprivation and political instability and there is also a relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of elite cabinet members (1990-2006) and cabinet reshuffle. The researcher used the theoretical analysis of the phenomenon, quantitative analysis in measuring middle class size and political economic stability indicators. The Jordanian society was divided into categories to determine the size of middle class depending on both standards of income and expenditure. The researcher considered middle class as the one between the second and eighth categories (20-80%). The (SPSS) statistical analysis program was used to connect the variables statistically. The study concluded the non-existence of a statistically significant relationship among the study indicators, namely, middle class size in Jordan does not play a role in political stability. However, there are other variables related to economic and political ones. These findings did not agree with the researcher's hypothesis which assumed the existence of a relationship between middle class indicators and political stability indicators.Key words: middle class, political stability, middle class indicators, political stability indicators.