Modern-day Tunisia was the centre of the Carthaginian civilisation, which challenged the dominance of both the Greek and Roman empires in the Mediterranean between the 6th and 1st centuries BC; Carthage itself was approximately 16km (10 miles) north of the present capital, Tunis. During the colonial era, Tunisia was ruled by a hereditary monarchy, until the French made the country a protectorate in 1883. Nationalist pressure for independence began in 1934, with the formation of the Néo-Destour (New Constitution) Party (NDP) under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba. Internal self-Government was granted in 1955; independence as a constitutional monarchy under the Bey of Tunis came a year later. In 1957, the Bey was overthrown and a republic proclaimed, with Bourguiba as President.

Despite independence, the French insisted on holding onto a naval base at Bizerta, on the northern coast. This was lost in 1963, after a naval blockade by the Tunisians and several months of heavy fighting. The ruling Parti Socialiste Destourien (renamed Rassemblement Constitutionel Démocratique in 1988), and successor to the NDP, has maintained a strong grip. Bourguiba pursued unsuccessful socialist policies in the early part of his regime but opened the economy up to foreign investment and allowed the development of a private sector in the 1970s.

By the crude measure of per capita domestic income, the lot of the Tunisians greatly improved during this second phase. At the time of his fall from power in November 1987, Bourguiba had been in control for 30 years – at first through elections to the single party and after 1975 as President-for-Life. Following a pronouncement by his own team of doctors that Bourguiba was no longer of sound mind, Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali assumed the Presidency unopposed. Despite its relatively small size, Tunisia has played a consistently important diplomatic role in the region.

In 1982, following the expulsion of the bulk of the PLO – including all its top leadership – from Lebanon, after the Israeli invasion (see Lebanon), many Lebanese were taken in by Tunisia. The foreign ministry was also involved in the negotiations leading to the resolution of the Iran–Iraq war and the delicate manoeuvring between Libya and the West over the Lockerbie affair. North African issues also play an important role in the government’s foreign policy. The Tunisians played an important role in the creation of the Union of the Arab Maghreb in 1989 – conceived as a political and economic bloc in North Africa and comprising Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. The development of the Union has been overshadowed, in recent years, by the civil war in Algeria. The Tunisian Government was initially concerned by the home-grown Islamic An-Nahda movement, but its influence and effect have failed to match those of its counterparts elsewhere in the Middle East. As such, Tunisia has not experienced the levels of political violence in neighbouring Algeria, although there have been a number of terrorist attacks, generally accredited to affiliates of the al-Qaeda network. Against this background, the Government embarked on a cautious reform programme, with a series of complementary political and economic alterations. These have been undertaken with a view to building economic relations with the European Union, with whom Tunisia signed an association and partnership agreement – the first of its type – in 1995.

The domestic political reforms instituted by the Government allowed candidates other than those from the RCD to stand for election, although there remained definite limits to the degree of political dissent the Government was prepared to tolerate. The RCD continues to hold a substantial majority in the Majlis al-Nuwaab (Chamber of Deputies). A Presidential poll was held in March 1994 and Ben Ali was ‘re-elected’ with 99.9 per cent of the vote. At legislative elections held at the same time, half of the 19 seats reserved for the opposition were allocated to the Democratic Socialists and the others divided between the Mouvement de la Renovation (formerly the Communists), the Parti de l'Unité Populaire and the Union Démocratique Unioniste. The 1999 Presidential vote produced a similar result, giving Ben Ali a third consecutive term. Strictly speaking, a fourth term was forbidden by the constitution but a referendum in 2002 allowed Ali to stand for up to another two terms. Unsurprisingly, Ali won the controversial fourth term in 2004 with the main opposition party withdrawing two days prior to the vote stating that their participation would only serve to legitimise a rigged election.

Under the 1959 constitution, legislation is the responsibility of the unicameral Chamber of Deputies, whose 163 members are elected by universal adult suffrage for five years. All but 19 seats, which are reserved for opposition parties under a system of proportional representation, are elected under a simple majority system. The President, who is also elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term, is Head of State and appoints a Prime Minister and Council of Ministers who exercise executive power under his leadership. There are also various advisory bodies – the State Council, the Social and Economic Council, the Constitutional Council and the Higher Islamic Council.