In this paper, I analyse the extent to which elite allies - in the form of formal institutions - are responsive to the policy interests of social movements, through a case study of domestic and transnational elite allies’ representation of the policy interests of social movement organisations and coalitions that have been mobilising for legislative reforms on violence against women in Morocco between 2011 and 2016. Based on a representative claims analysis to two Moroccan newspapers Liberation and Aujourd'hui Le Maroc between November 2011 and July 2016, I examine the congruence between the claims formulated by different types of elite actors and by social movement organisations (SMOs) and social movement coalitions (SMCs) in Morocco and those formulated by various types of elite actors, to determine which elites offer the most supportive policy representation, and can therefore be considered allies. I draw two main observations from my preliminary analysis. First, domestic elite actors make more frequent and supportive claims than transnational elite actors. Second, though elite allies make the same broad claims as SMOs and SMCs, they do not mention them as objects of their claims. They thus advocate for reforms on violence against women in Morocco whilst erasing the role of domestic social movement actors, suggesting that they engage in suppressive representation towards them. These preliminary findings suggest that it is important to consider the discursive interactions between elite political actors and social movements to determine which elites can be considered allies of social movements and to what extent they act as a source of political opportunity.
