Truth about Jordanian autocracy

"But how then to explain that the most recent annual report from Free­dom House actually downgraded Jordan to ‘not free'?  Indeed, by some measures Jordan is today less free than in 1989, when its much-claimed democratic transition began. This does not, however, mean that Jor­dan's ‘tran­sition to no­whe­re' should be framed as an example of ‘failure of demo­cra­tization.' Instead, Jordan should be seen as an example of a ‘libe­ra­li­zing autocracy': always ap­pearing as being in the midst of a promising reform process, but still always an auto­cracy. Those in real power are not accountable to their citi­zens and they do not aim to gi­ve up or even share their power. They are only following Lampe­du­sa's old advice that "if we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change." Such liberalizing autocracies should not be perceived as be­ing a transitory state on the road toward democracy, but rather as a distinct and quite resilient kind of authoritarian regime." (thanks Khaled)