This paper assesses the character of democracy in contemporary Egypt. Most governments in the world claim to be democratic, and the extent to which they are democratic depends largely on how democracy is defined, and on the dichotomy between the de jure and the de facto characteristics of the political and economic environments within a country. In this assessment, democracy is defined as the political and economic equality of the citizens of a state in the context of the opportunity to participate in society. This definition of democracy infers that the government is controlled by the people and not vice versa. For a finding that democracy prevails in contemporary Egypt, it is also posited that the characteristics of political and economic equality, and the supreme power of the people over the government must be actual (de facto) as opposed to only constitutional or legal (de jure).
The government in contemporary Egypt led by Hosni Mubarak is the direct successor of the government established in the wake of the 1952 revolution.1 After an interim period, in which a government headed by General Mohammed Neguib (a figurehead selected by the Society of Free Officers that overthrew the government of King Farouk) exercised temporary control, the government of Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser (the real leader of the
1Arthur Goldschmidt, Modern Egypt: The Formation of A Nation State )Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1988), 90 93.
Society of Free Officers) was installed in 1954.2 Anwar Sadat, selected by Nasser as his successor, assumed the office of president following Nasser's death. Similarly, Hosni Mubarak, selected by Sadat as his successor, assumed the office of president following Sadat's death. The assessment of the character of democracy in contemporary Egypt, therefore, requires the consideration of the actions of all three of these governments Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak.
For centuries prior to the 1952 revolu...