Ottoman Period: From the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, Tunisia was administered as a semi-autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire. Similarly to Algeria, in the seventeenth century, local officers increased their own powers without authorization from the central government. They established the post of “bey,”who became the territory’s most important source of authority. The bey governed the territory through a familiar administrative framework. He maintained public order, collected taxes, and established a government that included four leading ministers, including a prime minister, a treasurer, a commander-in-chief, and a secretary. During the nineteenth century, the bey launched a campaign to modernize the country. A standing army was established, locals were recruited into the bureaucracy, and tax reform was enacted. The country fell into considerable debt, which allowed the United Kingdom and France to impose significant legal reforms. At the same time, significant numbers of Tunisia’s own elite were demanding that the state adopt more modern methods of policy formation and some means of accountability.1