A Regime’s Legitimacy
It disproves another paradigm of rentierism stated by Luciani, that “the authoritarian rentier state does not need to refer to a ‘national myth,’ because it is supported by a rent accruing from the rest of the world and does not need to impose taxes on the domestic economy.
Another deconstruction of rentierism was made by Gwenn Okruhlik, who pointed out in an article for Comparative Politics that “wealth generated through oil receipts is a catalyst for opposition to the state, rather than a tool to placate dissent,” because it is “distributed inequitably… and provides potential dissenters with the resources necessary for mobilization against the regime.” She uses Saudi Arabia as a case study where neglect of the eastern provinces, led to riots and dissent within the Shi’a community.
As Herb observed: “Gulf Arabs… think that they themselves, as citizens, own the oil, not the ruling families.” It is therefore evident that, despite being significantly less transparent than Western governmental finance, oil rent distribution in Gulf nations is monitored with interest by Gulf citizens.
If they believe that oil rent has been distributed justifiably, only then will citizens of rentier states consent to their regime’s legitimacy.