Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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Technology constitutes a third factor in shaping the departure of the society from its
traditional past. The improved national economy accelerated the use of automobiles and
other forms of transportation. While in 1970 there were 8,000 kilometers of paved road
network, in 1990 it reached 32,000. The increased use of telecommunication systems
eased the otherwise difficult dismantling of isolated enclaves of populations. The number
of working telephones lines increased from 29,000 in 1970 to 1,500,000 in 1990. With
the building of roads and installation of telephone networks, travel became easy and safe,
allowing extended family members to maintain contact The state's ownership of mass
media channels, such as radio and television, and state regulation of the press, coupled
with central education programs, all have facilitated the creation of national values
conducive to the larger, modern society. In addition, the establishment of a standing army
and effective and organized police power have assured security making transport routes
safe, easing both travel and the movement of goods and products. In short, the combined
effects of these factors have paved the way for the process of substituting the state and the
mobile nuclear family for the clan and the tribe as the major social units in tune with the
modern needs of the modern age.
The new centralized decision making took place at the village, town and city levels.
As the bureaucracy expanded, the notables' influence as a viable social force different city
neighborhoods, gradually diminished. The social ranks of the town emirs, and bedouin
sheikhs declined with their death or mere passage of time along with their multi-power
traditional institutions. Meanwhile, the eclipse of traditional authority as represented by the
provincial and town's emir, the bedouin sheikh and city notables have eased the historically
latent provincial particularism, hence expediting the consolidation of the centralized nationstate.
This encroachment constitutes a great inroad into the old system. It was an
inevitable outcome, argues A1 Said, not" a response to the state's need for asserting its
authority nor the removal of local obstacles for the implementation of its plans and projects"
by the central government. Rather, "it was a natural outcome, of the tendency to confer
more power on the central government, due in no small measures to the Council of
Minsters' emergence as a viable source of authority." 44
While in Saudi Arabia the reform programs emphasized modernization in the social
and urban spheres, little effort, if any, has been awarded to political development.
Contrary to Huntington's theory, the modernization steps have not undermined the status
quo. The "traditional reformer" as applied to Saudi Arabian government, has scored wide