Arab academics and civil society activists from 7 Arab countries formed in July 2007 the Arab Network for the Study of Democracy.

These 7 Arab countries are: Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco. They were selected because they represent the 4 cultural and geographical subsystems that define the Arab region: the Gulf, the Mashreq or Levant, North Africa, and Egypt.

This network’s activities focus on three tracks:
Research about democracy and its applications in the Arab region;
Practice of democracy including the establishment of an Arab Public Issues Forums Project; and
Measurement of democracy through the launching of an Arab Barometer initiative.