THE EVOLUTION OF SAUDI ARABIA'S GOVERNANCE MODEL UNDER PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN

This article analyses how Saudi Arabia’s governance model changed under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) between King Salman’s accession in 2015 and 2026. It asks whether the evidence points to a change of regime type or to a reconfiguration of authority within the existing monarchical order. Using a chronological analysis of formal acts (royal orders, decrees, and institutional restructurings) along three dimensions succession and dynastic power-sharing, executive architecture, and legitimacy and accountability the article finds that authority moved from consensus-based, family-wide rule towards a vertical line ending in the crown prince. By 2022 he chaired the Council of Ministers, the economic and security sub-cabinets and the board of the Public Investment Fund. This centralisation was formalised largely through existing institutions (the Allegiance Council, royal orders, a prime-ministerial appointment made as an exception to the Basic Law) and was paired with a performance-management apparatus built around the Council of Economic and Development Affairs. Legitimacy shifted towards a state-centred nationalism and social liberalisation, while accountability remains the most contested dimension: rights organisations document an intensified crackdown and record executions, and Saudi authorities reject key allegations. The article concludes that the model is best described as managerial centralisation within a monarchy.