A Democracy With Fangs And Claws And Its Effects On Egyptian Political Culture - Statistical Data Included

Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Summer, 2001 by Joshua A. Stacher

POLITICAL CULTURE AS A CONCEPT

Whilst political culture, thaqafa siyasiyah is obviously a broad concept, it can be summarized as: "the beliefs and values concerning politics that prevail in both the elite and the mass." [13] This definition takes into account citizens' perceptions and attitudes towards many phenomena that are vital aspects of democratic systems such as the legitimacy accorded to democratic ideals, tolerance of opposition parties, willingness to compromise and cooperate, and trust in the political environment. [14] Economics and political structures cannot alone explain independent variables such as "legitimacy and stability, trust and effectiveness, authoritarianism and despotism, liberalism and democracy." [15] As Diamond argues, political culture is being taken seriously anew and it should not be disregarded in any effort to understand the expansion. [16] Moreover as Hudson points out in relation to the Middle East: of democracy. "a new generation of Arab world political scientists is indeed rightly guided in its rejection of reductionist-based and ethnocentric readings of what Said called Orientalist political culture, but we should be careful not to throw out the political culture baby with the Orientalist bath water." [17]

Indeed, Hudson's earlier work Arab Politics highlights the need to be aware of political culture. This is because he believes that what can be regarded as the superstition of "traditional" people should be understood less as a cultural phenomenon and more as a rational decision, by the people, derived from previous negative experiences with the "authorities." [18] Moreover Hudson further claims that: "even those aspects of culture which may not seem directly political -- such as mans s view of human nature and time, as well as his relation to nature and to his fellow man -- influence political behavior." [19]

Before discussing the issue at hand, I would like to note that this paper serves as an introduction to political culture in Egypt and therefore should not be read as an all-encompassing assessment. One must be aware of the fact that Egyptian political culture is multifarious [20], and given the brevity of this paper it would be illogical to attempt to fully examine every part of society. Therefore, I have chosen two large groups upon whom to focus my attention. The first are the 'masses', which is used to mean the 'popular' sector, 'man in the street', or the 'silent majority.' The second test group are intellectuals, defined for the sake of this argument as educated individuals who are frequently writing or publicly commenting on political events or trends in contemporary Egypt.

EGYPTIAN POLITICAL CULTURE: AN IMPEDIMENT TO DEMOCRATIZATION?

In response to the 1977 bread riots Sadat claimed that "Democracy has fangs and claws" (Al-dimuqratiya laha anyaab wa azafer). [21] The President reiterated this point during the September 1981 crackdown on approximately 1,500 Egyptians from all sectors of society, such as intellectuals, Islamists, and others. Sadat explained to the people that they had to "understand that democracy has its own teeth. The next time is going to be ten times as ruthless." [22] Ibrahim explains, "September 1981 was unique. Never before has so many, from such widely diverse ideological and political backgrounds, found themselves together in the same jail." [23] This provides insight into the complexity and layers of groups that produce political culture in Egyptian society. In this respect, to say that something is an Egyptian phenomenon is an overstatement, and as such, it is necessary to first evaluate some of the sectors in Egyptian society.