Institutional petitions in Morocco: opportunities and challenges of claiming rights in participatory arenas

Morocco’s reaction to the Arab Spring sets it aside from other countries in the region in terms of how political elites adapted to the demands for democratic change. In the framework of a constitutional reform, the right to petition has been granted at the constitutional level, supposedly aiming at fostering citizens’ engagement in political processes through the creation of new avenues for institutional participation. This article discusses the effect of institutional participatory spaces on the process of making rights claims. Grounded in two case studies and continuous observations in the field for over one year and a half, the article shows that citizens’ engagement in these spaces reflects multiple logics and goals. Recognizing the important influence of the institutional design on the seizure of the right to petition, the findings highlight that seizing these spaces may also aim at achieving outcomes that go beyond the initial scope of the participatory space. The article argues that a better comprehension of the effect of the reconfiguration of citizens’ participation in the policy process in Morocco could be achieved by shifting the focus to the performances of citizenship itself.