Following prominent calls on Middle East scholars to enter ‘the era of post-democratization’ the debate on political rule in the Middle East has in recent years been enriched with its own ‘post’-concept. Usually this prefix is used to describe a condition, which on the one hand marks a break from a previous era but on the other hand is imbued with uncertainty and confusion as to what comes next. This is also the case for the current discussion about ‘post-democratization’ in Middle East scholarship and the overall aim of the collection of papers, which this paper is part of, is to contribute to the debate on the study of Middle Eastern political rule after ‘the end of the transition paradigm’, not only by providing a more self-critical and nuanced understanding of the post-democratization trend but also through an identification and discussion of different forms of possible future research strategies within this trend. This general problematique is further outlined in this introductory paper, which assumes the nature of a meta-study that provides a critical examination of the ‘post’ in post-democratization by asking ‘where do we come from’, ‘where we are now situated’ and ‘where we should be going’?