Keywords

Jordanian Constitution, Bahraini Constitution, Jordanian Parties Law, Bahraini Associations Law, The Development of Parties Number in Jordan, the Development of the Associations Number in Bahrain.

Introduction

The grouping of people within any particular frame of political work, regardless its labeling, either as parties or associations aims to advocate a certain thought or opinion that is believed to be right by those groups of people who seek to apply it in reality within the political system of the country. Indeed, the political system is considered as the main gathering of individuals, political authority as well as official and non-official institutions, where the nonofficial institutions refer to the parties, associations and syndicates; each of entities has its own ideas that are expressed by those belonging to them.

Therefore, due to the existence of individuals who belong to political groups that hold ideas of a political nature and seek to reach power and authority, in accordance with the democratic trends in political systems, legislations were set in order to establish gatherings which aim to express people living in that specific country through political participation. Both Jordan and Bahrain set legislations in order to organize the political work in general, where those legislations, either in the form of constitutions or laws aimed to organize such gatherings of individuals. In this vein, Jordan defined the gathering of individuals through political parties, while Bahrain defined it through political associations.

These two countries cited certain legislations for the political gathering of people, labeled as political parties in Jordan or political associations in Bahrain. Even though labeling of such a political participation is different, the content is almost similar; the authors found that there are similarities and differences between the paraphrasing of legislations in relation to the way of dealing with political activities and demonstrating their actions according to the existing conditions. Therefore, the current study mainly addressed the domain of political systems.

The Study Problem

The political systems all over the world are based on legislations that are enshrined to organize the work of official and non-official institutions, in that each country has its own legislations that specify the work of those institutions, including the constitution which specifies the form of the political system as well as the working official and non-official institutions. Therefore, the current study aimed at identifying the problematic issues in the Jordanian political system and the Bahraini political system, where the political parties are mainly dominant in the Jordanian political system and the political associations are mainly dominant in the Bahraini political system. In each system, there have been certain legislations within the laws as well as the Jordanian and Bahraini constitutions that organize their work nature. Even though the nature of enshrined legislations are almost similar in rights and duties, there are slight differences mainly related to the labeling given to the political groups in these two countries. The authors of the study were interested in the difference in labeling the political gatherings of individuals in Jordan and Bahrain by reviewing the formal texts to identify the variations in the rights of political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain. Indeed, the comparative approach was used to detect the similarities and differences for (parties in Jordan, and associations in Bahrain) from a comprehensive legislative perspective, in addition to addressing investigating the development of the number of parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain.

The Study Objectives

The study aimed at demonstrating how the text of the Jordanian constitution dealt with the political parties and how the text of the Bahraini constitution dealt with the political associations as well as demonstrating how the text of political party’s law dealt with parties in Jordan and how the text of political association’s rules dealt with associations in Bahrain. The study also aimed at investigating the most prominent similarities and differences between the Jordanian political parties and the Bahraini political associations in relation to the legislations governing their work and the increase of their numbers in Jordan and Bahrain.

The Study Questions

1. How did the Jordanian constitution stipulate political parties, and the Bahraini constitution provided for political societies?

2. How did the regulatory laws stipulate the political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain?

3. What are the most prominent similarities and differences between the political parties in Jordan and the political societies in Bahrain in the text of the legislation regulating their work, and the evolution of their number in the Jordanian state and the Bahraini state?

The Study Methodology

The study used the analytical descriptive approach, where it is beneficial in the current study while describing the legislations (constitutions, laws) that govern the work of political parties in Jordan and political associations in Bahrain, in addition to analyzing that theoretically by investigating the constitutional articles of Jordan and Bahrain and investigating the laws applied in them. The study also used the comparative approach to identify the similarities and differences in the work of parties in Jordan and political associations in Bahrain according to the text of Jordanian constitution and Bahraini constitution as well as the laws organizing their work.

Interesting Reasons to in the Study in Political Science

This study follows the sub-specialization in political science, which is comparative political systems, and helps to adopt studies based on following up the legislative status of countries that are still in the modernization stage, taking into account the specificity of each country; This is in light of standing on the legislative situation that regulates political life in it, and the extent of its ability to encourage all individuals interested in political life to enter into competition within the framework of groups to practice political life in parliaments on a partisan basis.

Why Compare the Legislation of the Two Countries? Jordan and Bahraini in the Region

The political conditions experienced by Jordan and Bahrain differ based on the constitutions that were issued during the political life of each country. Jordan passed through two stages: the first stage is the era of the Emirate of Transjordan (1921-1946), and the second stage started in 1946 up to now; it is called the stage of independence and political stability. During the Emirate era, the first Jordanian constitution was issued in 1928, and then the second Jordanian constitution was issued after independence in 1947 during the reign of King Abdullah I. After King Talal bin Abdullah took over the reins, the third constitution was issued in 1952, and it has been valid till now after the late amendments in 2016. As for Bahrain, the country passed through two stages: the first stage is the Emirate which extended during (1971-1999), and the second stage, which included the transfer from Emirate to a kingdom in 2002. During the emirate stage, the first Bahraini constitution was issued at the time of Prince Eissa Aal Khalifain 1973. In the second stage, the kingdom stage, the Bahraini constitution was issued in 2002 and was lately amended in 2018, during the reign of King Hamad bin Eissa Aal Khalifa.

In that the constitutional texts included in the amended Bahraini constitution in 2002, are articles and provisions that confirmed the bases included in the national labor code (Falih, 2017), which was passed in 2001 to establish political (legislative) reforms, this is in terms of difference.

While Jordan and Bahrain are similar in the legislation in which the work of parties in Jordan and associations in Bahrain has been stipulated, especially in the constitution and organizational laws, The main reason for choosing these two countries is that there is a great similarity in the system of government and the level of participation of parties in Jordan and associations in Bahrain in elections in parliament, despite the existence of a similar system, which is Morocco; But the latter has reached advanced stages in the participation of parties in the parliamentary elections, leading to the formation of the government based on the amendment made to the Moroccan constitution in 2011.

The researchers found that it is better to compare two systems that have not yet been established in the experience of parliamentary governments to compare them, and to find out the text of the legislation regulating the work of these political gatherings of individuals, whether parties in Jordan, or associations in Bahrain.

The Political Parties in the Text of the Jordanian Constitution and the Bahraini Associations in the Text of the Bahraini Constitution: The political parties in the context of the Jordanian constitution

As mentioned above, three constitutions were issued in Jordan. The first one was named as "the first constitution" in 1928 during the reign of Prince Abdullah, the second constitution was issued in 1947, and known as independence constitution, during the reign of King Abdullah I, when Jordan was converted from an emirate to a kingdom, while the third constitution was issued in 1952, during the reign of King Talal bin Abdullah. The latter constitution witnessed several amendments during the reign of King Hussein and King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein. The amendments were constantly inserted to the constitution until 2016.

The Jordanian constitution issued in 1952, and its amendments included articles that were directed to establishing the rights of the Jordanian citizens, including the establishment of political parties in Jordan. It is worth noting that the political parties have a historical evolution since the emirate period, through the independence period and until recently, even though their activities were temporarily stopped after the declaration of emergency during (1957-1989), after which the political life was continued in Jordan.

The Jordanian constitution of 1952 and its amendments till 2016, cited in the second chapter, the rights and duties of the Jordanian citizens, article (6) section (1), that Jordanians are equal before law without any discrimination between them in rights and duties, even though they may differ in race, religion or religion. Also, the constitution cited in article (15), section (1) that the state assures the freedom of opinion and that each Jordanian has the freedom to express his opinion by talking, writing, photography and any other expression methods, within the borders of law. Article (16), section (1) cited that Jordanians have the right to make meetings within the borders of law. In section (2) of the same article, it provided that Jordanians have the right to establish political associations and parties if their objectives were legislative, their methods were correct and their systems don't oppose the rules of the constitution. Section (3) of the same article cited that law organizes the way of establishing political parties, syndicates and associations and monitors their resources.

The Political Associations in the Context of the Bahraini Constitution

After two years of Bahrain's independence from the British occupation in 1971, the first constitution was issued in 1973, and based on this constitution; the first parliamentary elections were organized. Many politicians and experts in constitutional law considered the 1973-constitution as an advanced democratic step and important conversion point in the history of modern Bahrain. However, they were stopped again in 1975, when the late Prince, Sheikh Eissa bin Salman Aal Khalifa decided to stop the validity of constitution and dissolution of the national council (Al-Jazeera, 2011). After the death of Prince Eissa bin Salman Aal Khalifa, King Hamad bin Eissa took over the reign in Bahrain, where several political reforms took place and were inserted to legislations in his ruling time. We can say that several legislations were cited and had a big role in bringing back the democratic life to Bahrain. The most important legislations were represented by the issuance of the 2002-constitution, which was then amended in 2012, 2017 and 2018.

The Bahraini constitution of 2002, in its amendments provided articles that were related to equity, rights and duties of the Bahraini citizen, in that the article (1), section (h) provided that citizens, either as men or women, have the right to participate in the public affairs, and enjoy the political rights, including the rights to elect and be a candidate according to the constitution and the rules cited by law, where no citizen is derived from these rights as long as he/she is committed to the provisions of law. Article (18) cited that people are equal in dignity and humanity and that citizens are equal before law in rights and public duties without any discrimination between them based on gender, origin, language, religion or doctrine. Article (27) stated the freedom of establishing associations and syndicates based on national foundations, legislative objectives and peaceful means, guaranteed in accordance with the terms circumstances demonstrated by law without prejudice with the foundations of religion and public law. Article (28), section (a) stated that individuals have the right to make private meetings without the need to take a previous permission, and that the staff of public security forces aren't allowed to attend those private meetings. Section (B) of the same article provided that public meetings, processions and gatherings are allowed according to the terms and conditions demonstrated by law as long as the objectives and methods of meetings are peaceful and don't contradict with public manners. Articles (31) stated that public freedom and rights, provided by constitution, are only organized by law and that organization or restriction should not violate the core of right and freedom (The Bahraini constitution, 2019).

The Jordanian Law of Political Parties and The Bahraini Law of Political Associations: The law of Jordanian Political Parties

Political parties are considered as effective elements in the democratic communities, and if a specified law is to be enshrined to them-where the issuance of such a law is not seen as necessary in some democratic countries-it should mainly aim to promote the effectiveness of those parties. Partisan organization passed through several developments in Jordan, and political parties emerged since the establishment of the Jordanian state in 1921, where they were established in accordance with the constitution and laws that govern the partisan work. During (1921-2015), eight partisan laws were issued (Hmoud, 2018).

The difficult political circumstances experienced by the Jordanian political parties contributed to stopping work in political parties during the reign of King Hussein bin Talal, since the dissolution of the government of Suleiman Al-Nabulsi in 1957. This case continued until the beginning of the 1990s, where the democratic life was continued by the performance of the first parliamentary elections in 1989 and witnessed the participation of the different Jordanian political parties. Furthermore, several laws were issued for political parties in Jordan after the return of the democratic life during (1992-2015) (Hmoud, 2018).

In this vein, the Jordanian parties law (No. 39) for the year (2015) was issued in 29/6/2015; it included (39) articles that organize the partisan work in Jordan. Article (38) of the law included a cancellation for the law of political parties’ No. 16 for the year 2012, whereas the systems issued based on it are still valid, until they are cancelled or replaced according to the provisions of this law during a period of no more than a year since implementation date.

In this part, the study was based on introducing the most important articles included in this law, where article (3) included a definition of the political party as follows “a party is each political organization that is composed of a number of Jordanians and is established according to the provisions of constitution. This law aims to participate in political life and achieve certain objectives that are related to social, economic and political affairs based on peaceful and legislative means". Section (a) of article (4) provided that Jordanians have the right to establish parties and affiliate to them according to the provisions of constitution. Section (B) of the same article stated that the party has the right to participate in all the elections that take place in the Kingdom according to the provisions of law (Official Newspaper, 2015); here, I refer to the participation in the municipal, parliamentary, and decentralized elections, where the latter was first applied in 2017.

Article (5), section (a) provided that parties should be established based on citizenship and equality between Jordanians as well as commitment to democracy and respect to political pluralism. Section (b) stated that parties should not be established on a religious, ethnic or racist basis or discrimination based on gender or origin. Article (6), section (a) stated that a party should not be less than (150) individuals, while section (b) included the conditions of the founder member, including that he/she should be at least (18) years old at the time of establishing the party. Additionally, article (18) of the law stated that each Jordanian who reached the age of (18) years old has the right to affiliate to the party after the declaration of its establishment according to the provisions of this law (Official Newspaper, 2015).

Article (9), section (a) stated that the ministry includes a committee called "the committee of parties affairs" in order to consider the requirements of parties establishment and pursue their affairs according to the provisions of this law; the Committee is headed by the secretary general of the Ministry and its members are: first, the secretary general of the Ministry of interior as the vice president. In case of his absence, he is replaced by the second member, the secretary general of the Ministry of justice; third, the secretary General of the Ministry of culture; fourth, a representative of the institutions of civil community, assigned by the prime minister; fifth, a representative of the national center for human rights, assigned by trustees Council (Official Newspaper, 2015). The term "ministry" refers to the ministry of political and parliamentary affairs.

We can conclude that the Jordanian legislations, represented by the Jordanian constitution and the law of political parties granted the Jordanian women the right to establish political parties and affiliate to them (Ahmad, 2019). The following Table 1 shows the political parties registered in Jordan and the year of establishment.

The previous Table shows that the number of licensed parties in Jordan until 2019 was (48) parties, which were licensed based on four laws for the political parties in Jordan. (12) Political parties were established during (1992-2007), (9) political parties were established during (2008-2012), (8) political parties were established during (2013-2014) and (19) political parties were established during (2015-2019).

Accordingly, we noticed that the number of political parties in Jordan after passing the law No. 39, for the year (2015) was (16) licensed political parties, which is considered as a considerable increase in comparison with the parties that were licensed in the light of law No. 16/2012 and law No. 19/2007 as well as law 32/1992. This is attributed to the fact that the last issued law for parties in 2015 encouraged the establishment of parties as it didn't stipulate the representation of governorates at the time of establishment, where it linked the process of members' representation with a certain percentage of governorates within the system of financial contribution of parties issued in 2020.

The Laws of Bahraini Political Associations

Despite the political reforms performed by King Hamad bin Eissa Aal Khalifa after taking over the reign, some people consider those reforms as an attempt from the King to have control over authority (Ibtisam, 2013). However, the idea of political (legislative) reform in the time of King Hamad bin Eissa Aal Khalifa began to take the form of openness in the Bahraini political system at the level of official and non-official institutions, where the latter includes the political associations. In 2001, Bahrain allowed the political currents to establish political associations under the law of associations and clubs (Middle East online, 2005). The first law of political associations was issued in Bahrain in 2005, known as law No. 26 for the year (2005). In 2014, the law was amended and was known as law No. 34 for the year (2014), and other amendments were made in 2016, where the law was known as law No. 13 for the year (2016). Below, we will address these amendments, but first we will introduce some texts of the law issued in 2005, and then the texts of the law issued in 2014 and 2016 (Ahmad, 2014).

The Bahraini law defined political associations in article (2) as organized groups that are established according to the provisions of law and are based upon common principles and objectives, where they work publicly using legislative democratic ways in order to achieve certain agenda related to the social, economic and political affairs for the Kingdom of Bahrain. The association or group that is only based on professional, sporting, cultural, social, scientific or religious objectives is not considered as a political association (Official Newspaper, 2005).

Article (1), stated that citizens men and women have the right to establish political associations and affiliate to them according to the provisions of this law. Article (3) stated that the political associations that are established according to the provisions of this law contribute to achieving economic, social and political progress in the kingdom. These associations work as democratic, popular and national organizations to organize citizens, represent them and promote political practices and culture in the frame of national unity, social security and democracy in accordance with the features demonstrated by constitution and national work code (Official Newspaper, 2005).

Section (4) of article (4) stated that associations should not be established upon professional, geographical or ethnic basis or based on discrimination related to gender, origin, language, religion or doctrine. Article (5) stated that the founder member or the affiliated member should be at least (21) years old at the time of establishing the association or affiliating to it (Official Newspaper, 2005). However, the amendments of 2014, section (2) of article (5) provided that the founder member or the leading member should be at least at the time of establishing the association or holding a leadership position in it, or at least (20) years old at the time of affiliating to the association. Section (1) of article (8) stated that the minister of justice has the right to ask the association founder to introduce any documents or statements necessary for implementing the provisions of this law in a registered document that is issued within (30) days after applying a request for the establishment of the association (Altarawneh, 2018 & 2020). Section (1) of article (23) provided that the minister of justice has the right to apply for the civil supreme court to dissolute the association, confiscate its funds and determine the party to which this money belongs, if the association committed a grave offence against the kingdom's constitution, including this law or any other law or if the association did not take a serious action to repair its imbalances in the restricted time in response to a previous judgment issued against it (Official Newspaper, 2014). The pre-mentioned law of political associations aims to promote the democratic process in Bahrain while maintaining the national unity. This applies to the role that is played by the political associations during the stage of municipal and parliamentary elections or any other stages in the process of national work (Bahrain institution for political development, 2014). A mend member were slight in relation to law No. 13 for the year (2016), where section (6) of article (6) included "the way and procedures of establishing the association's parts and choosing its leadership…" Section (6) in article (6) provided that “the member should not gather between affiliation to the association and preaching at religious platforms…" (Official Newspaper, 2016). The following Table 2 shows the licensed political associations in Bahrain and the year of establishment.

Table 2 shows that the total number of political associations in Bahrain is (16) political associations distributed in all the areas of the kingdom. The results revealed that most of these associations were established as soon as the law of political associations was issued in 2001; therefore, (11) political associations were established during (2001-2002), and the other associations were established during (2005-2012), where the last established association was the national change and willingness association. The results revealed that there were (5) religious associations out of (16) associations (Ahmad, 2019), where the number of political associations after the issuance of the law of political associations No. 26 for the year (2005) was (5) political associations.

A Comparative View about the Legislations Governing the Work of Political Parties in Jordan and the Political Associations in Bahrain

The Context of the Jordanian and Bahraini Constitutions about Parties in Jordan and Associations in Bahrain

Jordan surpassed Bahrain in dealing with constitutions due to its early independence from the British occupation in 1946 and its transformation from an emirate to a kingdom. Accordingly, the third Jordanian constitution issued in 1952 and its amendments till 2016, as well as the Bahraini constitution issued in 2002 and its amendments till 2018 included articles that organized the work of the official and non-official institutions in Jordan and Bahrain, where the non-official institutions included the political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain.

The statements of constitutions related to the non-official institutions (parties and associations) addressed the rights and duties that established the right of people in Jordan and Bahrain to affiliate to political groups; political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain. In the articles of the Jordanian constitution related to the political parties, section (1) of article (16) stated that Jordanians have the right to make meetings within the limits of law, whereas section (2) stated that Jordanians have the rights to establish political parties, syndicates and associations if their objectives are legal and their methods are peaceful and their systems don't contradict with the provisions of constitution.

Within the context of Bahraini constitution articles related to political associations, article (27) provided the freedom of establishing associations and syndicates on national bases, for legislative objectives and peaceful methods and warranted according to the terms and situations demonstrated by law, without touching upon the religion bases and public system and not forcing anyone to join a certain association or syndicate. Article (28), section (a) stated that individuals have the right to meet privately without the need to have a previous permission, and that the staff of security forces aren't allowed to attend those private meetings.

Based on the above mentioned of the review of the Jordanian constitution and the Bahraini constitution related to political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain, we can conclude the following:

1. With regard to the rights of the Jordanians to attend private meetings, the Jordanian constitution stated that the law organizes the occurrence of such meetings, including the meetings of political parties. However, we noticed that the Bahraini constitution dealt with the individuals' rights to meet privately without any restrictions, where no law was specified for that. Accordingly, we can say that the Jordanian constitution imposed restrictions, while the Bahraini constitution did not; we can conclude that the Jordanian constitution was better in controlling meetings within the borders of law.

2. The Jordanian constitution addressed meetings by stating that “Jordanians have the right to establish political associations, syndicates and parties as long as their objectives are allowed, their methods are peaceful and their systems do not oppose the provisions of the constitution". The Bahraini constitution provided "the freedom of establishing associations and syndicates on national bases, for legislative objectives and peaceful methods and warranted according to the terms and situations demonstrated by law, without touching upon the religion bases and public system and not forcing anyone to join a certain association or syndicate or maintain in it". Therefore, we notice that both constitutions have almost similar paraphrasing of articles; however, the Bahraini constitution slightly differed in article (27) by stating the necessity of not. Touching upon the religion bases and public system and not forcing anyone to join a certain association or syndicate or maintain in it.

The Context of the Organizational Laws about Parties in Jordan and Associations in Bahrain

By addressing the law of political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain we can notice the following:

1. The Jordanian and Bahraini laws have a common situation in paraphrasing the definition of political parties and political associations, where both laws stated “with the intention of taking part in political life". The Jordanian law included "to achieve objectives", while the Bahraini constitution included “to achieve programs" in relation to the social, economic and political affairs.

2. As for the establishment of political parties and associations and affiliating to them, the Jordanian law provided that Jordanians have the right to do so, while the Bahraini law was more specific by mentioning men and women. However, this doesn't mean that the Jordanian law hasn't included men and women; in fact, it included both of them in one word within paraphrasing.

3. In the Jordanian law, section (B) of article (5) stated that parties should not be established based on religious, ethnic, racist or categorized basis or based on gender or origin. The Bahraini law in section (4) of article (4) stated that associations should not be established based on ethnic, class, categorized, geographical or professional bases, or based on discrimination due to gender, origin, language, religion or doctrine.

4. The Jordanian law restricted the lowest number of members in the political party to be (150) individuals, providing that the founder member should be at least (18) years old and that each Jordanian above (18) years old has the right to affiliate to the established party. However The text of the Bahraini law the number of members who must be in the association to be at least 50, while it was stated that the age must be 21 years when submitting the application for incorporation and 20 years when joining the association, The following Tables 3 and 4 show the development of the number of political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain.

Table 3 and Table 4 showed the development of the number of political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain, where the number of licensed political parties in Jordan during (1992-2007) was (12) parties, the parties which were licensed during (2008-2012) were about (9) parties, during (2013-2014), (8) parties and during (2015-2019), (19) parties. Here, we can see that the number of parties increased, particularly after the issuance of the law in 2015; indicating that the amendments that took place in law No. 39 for the year (2015) reduced the terms that were included in 2007 and 2012.

As for the Bahraini case, Table 4 revealed that the period of licensing political associations came after Jordan with about (10) years, where (11) political associations were licensed in 2001. According to the law of political associations issued in 2005, (15) political associations were licensed until the year (2012). Finally, in relation to the Bahraini case, some experts suggested that the political (legislative) reform in Bahrain had positive results during the issuance of law (26) for the year 2005 and its amendments included in law No. (34) For the year (2014) related to the political associations (Altarawneh, 2020). This is based on the idea that the political associations started their work officially in the era of legislative reforms during the reign of King Hamad bin Eissa Aal Khalifa in Bahrain

Conclusion

Jordan is historically more advanced than Bahrain in dealing with the political grouping of individuals despite the similarities in the context of legislations (constitutions and organizational laws), which included articles relating to organizing the work of political parties in Jordan and the political associations in Bahrain. Also, the number of parties in Jordan is more than political associations in Bahrain.

Furthermore, Jordan referred to political groups as political parties, while Bahrain referred to them as political associations. The Jordanian constitution imposed certain restrictions on the rights to make meetings within the borders of law, while the Bahraini constitution did not. As for similarities, Both Jordan and Bahrain agreed upon the legitimacy of establishing parties in Jordan and associations in Bahrain, and the context of the Jordanian and Bahraini constitutions did not overly mention the right of political parties and associations to participate in political activities.

In relation to the organizational law, the Jordanian and Bahraini laws overly stated about the participation of Jordanian parties and Bahraini associations in the political life. They agreed that political parties and associations should achieve social, economic and political objectives. Also, laws in Jordan and Bahrain agreed that parties and associations should not be established based on a religious basis. As for differences in laws, the age of the founder member of the political party differed from that of the founder member of the political associations. The organizational law in Jordan stipulates that the minimum number of members in a political party must be no less than 150, while the Bahraini Law of Political Associations stipulates that the number of members must not be less than 50.

By referring to Tables 3 and Table 4, we can see that the political parties in Jordan started to gain plurality since 1992, while the same case started in Bahrain in 2001; indicating the more advancement of partisan life in Jordan as compared to the life of political associations in Bahrain, as well as the long experience in partisan work since the independence stages in comparison with the short term experience in Bahrain, which started about (19) years ago.

Recommendation

The Jordanian and Bahraini constitutions should mention the importance of the participation of political parties in the political life, particularly in the parliamentary life.

Bahrain should change the name of "political associations" to be "political parties", in order to cope with the other political systems in the world, especially that it adopts the parliamentary form.

Bahrain must impose in the text of the constitution that the assembly of individuals be within the limits of the law, as stipulated in the Jordanian constitution.

Acknowledgement

Funding, I am grateful for the Applied Science Private University for supporting this scientific research.

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