1 Introduction During the last few years, a transformation process has started in Algeria that is far less obvious than the turning points that characterize most Western Arab countries after the Arab Spring in 2011. Algeria finds itself in a dichotomy of modernization and religious values, openness and tradition, as well as the ongoing love-hate relationship with France (Sarnelli & Kobibi, 2017, pp. 74-75). The FLN (Front de Libération Nationale), who rules Algeria since the independence in 1962, and president Abd al-Aziz Bouteflika try to manage these developments in a continuum of deregulation and maintenance of the status quo (Mostefaoui,…