Watching the uprisings unfold in the Middle East, as well as the opposition to them, leads me to appreciate the insights of social movement theory, which suggests that heterogeneous forces can unite in coalitions around super targets when political opportunities suddenly and serendipitously emerge. In this historic moment of change and resistance, will we see the unfolding institutional transformation of the state as it responds to a more participatory ethos, or will former regime stalwarts reconstitute themselves? Elected officials and new governance strategies will still confront serious distributional and economic challenges as states remain enmeshed in neoliberal policies. Political scientists are already studying constitutional change and debates about electoral design, party construction, and other institutional changes to democratize the polity, but we should also look to different transition models that seek to redress deep structural inequalities following decades of repression and rent seeking. Should principles of political or economic affirmative action be incorporated into new institutional designs of transitology?

We still have much to learn about how networks of patronage, coercion, and profit were deployed to keep regimes in power as well as the circumstances under which these networks fell apart. Fascinating revelations will emerge from our investigations of fallen regimes and their allies, but how will we utilize these insights to better understand how power might be more effectively constrained and limited in the Middle East? A problem-driven research agenda may encourage a more dialogic conversation with former leaders of civil society organizations, opposition movements, or nongovernmental organizations and new reformist technocrats as they become bureaucrats or gain leadership positions across society. Both politicians and scholars (including me) will need to move out of capital cities to understand the diverse constituencies and demands of national electorates.