EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION

Egyptian Revolution



Egyptian Revolution

Introduction

The Mubarak regime systematically stifled the development and maturity of democratic and egalitarian norms which are immanent in Egypt's modern legal and political history, even as the regime paid increasingly grotesque lip service to democratic forms. The spread of corruption and torture represented the grossest and most palpable failures of the regime to live up to the aspirations of the Egyptian state: Egyptian law prohibited both financial corruption and torture, yet Mubarak used his powers under the Constitution of 1971 to subvert the enforcement of Egyptian law in order to benefit himself, his family, and their allies. It is not surprising, then, that eliminating torture and public corruption were issues that galvanized Egyptians during the January 25 Revolution. With the resignation of Mubarak on February 11, 2011, Egyptians have now turned their attention to how the Egyptian state can recover public property from the possession of corrupt officials of the ancient regime.

Political reform

Democracy is crucial to Egypt's progress - both economic and social. Democracies in the developing world typically realize more rapid and sustained economic growth, superior health and education, wider access to opportunity, and greater stability than their autocratic counterparts.Democracies do better not just because they hold elections - but because they create checks and balances on executive power. Successful democracies also ensure access to information. This enhances oversight, responsiveness, and self-correction.

Regrettably, democratic transitions that don't make these substantive reforms don't realize these economic benefits - and tend to remain mired in semi-authoritarianism.

Transforming entrenched norms is not a one-shot deal, though. To achieve fundamental change, Egyptian reformers need to create sustainable and focused structures. To do this, they should build on their strengths - their numbers and networks - which proved so influential during the protests to oust Mr. Mubarak. These efforts should aim to connect reformist groups from across Egyptian society to build as robust and resilient a coalition as possible.

Likewise, there can be no accountability without information. Reformers need to prioritize protections for a free press and citizen access to information, especially the Internet and social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Information enables informed debate and makes it possible for citizens to monitor government expenditures, assess leaders' performance, and communicate their priorities. Information is also indispensible to transparency.

A successful transition to democracy will also require disentangling the presently intertwined knot of political connections and economic opportunity. Among other things, this unwinding ...