Jordan tour: Forms of imperfect government

One of our Bedouin drivers in Wadi Rum also served us tea and dinner at the campsite and stayed there with us. Later he shared his nargile with me while we sat around the fire.

Our tour guide informed me that this young man’s grandfather is a member of Parliament.

It’s difficult to imagine the offspring of a member of the U.S. Congress working a service job. While Jordan’s constitutional monarchy theoretically affords citizens many liberties, there are mixed reports as to what this looks like in practice. (The freedom of the press in particular has seen some setbacks of late.) Yet it’s impressive that several seats in the parliament are designated to represent not just specific places but specific people groups—a more straightforward approach to representative government than the U.S. House’s system of gerrymandered districts, with their double-edged sword of ensuring that people of color win a few seats but not many.