Egypt: Between Chaos, Authoritarianism, and Democracy
May 13, 2015
The literature on democratic transitions from the last 50 years has emphasized the process of transforming an authoritarian state into a democracy. Much has been written about negotiations between ancien regimes and democratic forces, particularly the bridges that must be made between elements of old and new regimes. Most studies on democratic transitions also examine the competency or democratic nature of such countries’ institutions. But there is a dearth of studies that address situations in which a state is absent and when institutions such as the army, police, and judiciary simply fail.
The prevalent literature reflects what took place in the wave of transitions to democracy in South America and Eastern Europe, as well as in many Asian and African countries. However, more recently we have seen attempts at democratic transitions in instances in which the state itself has fragmented and collapsed, particularly in the Arab world. This happened in Iraq following the American occupation, as well as in Libya. Because the Qaddafi regime built a failed state, not a national state, the fall of the regime automatically meant the fall of the state. In Libya today, although conflicting forces are conducting discussions, they do not have a state capable of protecting and guaranteeing what politicians may agree on. The same is happening in Yemen because of tribal and regional dominance over a weak state, and in Syria, where the state has been hijacked by a regime with a clear sectarian dimension.
What is certain is that the Arab revolutions have reintroduced the question of the national state. Is it possible to discuss democratic transition in the absence of a state? Or to read Tunisia’s trajectory as a success without reference to it as a national state with Habib Bourguiba’s republican system, which carried values and principles that protected Tunisia, even in the absence of democracy? Can we ignore the fact that the principal reason that Egypt did not fall prey to chaos was the existence of a modern national state, founded by Muhammad Ali in 1805? Despite the criticism that Egyptian state institutions face, and the reforms they require, it is significant that the state was founded to rely on a state army, not a sectarian army or the army of a particular regime, and had a police apparatus rather than militias, along with a judicial branch and an administrative structure.
snip* In countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria, maintaining the national state and reforming it are not just important; they are key conditions for building democracy. As for countries from which the state is absent, they are in need of exceptional efforts to transcend their current situation and build a democratic system. States facing situations like that of Libya must rebuild the national state in parallel with political dialogue and reconciliation between factions. Whoever imagines that it is possible to build a democracy without a national state is as mistaken as whoever supposes that a national state in authoritarian guise can succeed in resolving the problems of its people.
http://www.mei.edu/node/20431
= new reply since forum marked as read
