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

Some of the major sectors, not in any specific order, are those striving for democracy, consolidation of Egyptian independence, Arabism, economic development, social justice, cultural-Islamic authenticity [24] and those who are against normalizing relations with the state of Israel. There are also many smaller, more concentrated sectors within Egyptian society, which when added to the larger ones, make it difficult to organize consensus leaving discord in society. In a society constructed as such, the ability to assemble a majority, much less something that remotely resembles unanimity appears impossible. The inability of contemporary Egyptian leaders to create a common unity to initiate a sustainable cause often hinders political culture from developing into a desire for democracy from below. Whether this type of atmosphere may be the intention of Egyptian authorities can only be speculated. Nevertheless, to assess the political culture of Egypt, one must first look at the mass sub-culture.

POLITICAL CULTURE IN EGYPT: THE MASSES

In a country that is suffering from less than successful economic reforms, as well as reversal of the political liberalization experience in the 1980s the mass political culture appears to have been greatly sapped to such a level that it is now marked by apathy, isolation, and alienation. As an Egyptian journalist explains, "people are suffering from hard economic circumstances from years and years of being alienated and isolated in the political game and they have become more interested in a piece of bread." [25] The masses have become largely apathetic to the political decisions that concern them due to the economic strains they face in their daily life, as well as the constraints imposed by the existence of the emergency laws, which have been in force since 1981. The intense media campaigns that the government has directed at human rights activists such as Hafez Abu Saada [26], democratic activists such as Saadeddin Ibrahim [27], and even opposition party leaders such as Labor's Adel Hussein and Ibrahim S urkri, [28] appear to also encourage mass apathy within society. Negad Boraai, the former director of the defunct Group for Democratic Development (GDD), for example, agrees that political culture among the masses in Egypt has largely been shaped by the continual renewal of the emergency laws and the misuse of the media to deter participation in the political sphere. [29] Moreover, it is the media campaigns against the Human Rights activists that he believes to have caused the most damage. As he states:

Media campaigns always give negative ideas about the people working in these fields (activists). Everyone is talking now that people working in human rights and democratic fields are immoral, thieves, and taking money from abroad. We lose all credibility and the people are scared to work with us. All these elements convince the common people to step away from participating. The government is controlling everything, especially those who are very active and have a direct connection to the man in the street. [30]