Egypt after Mubarak: Liberalism, Islam, and Democracy in the Arab World

345 Pages·2008·2.89 MB·English

by  Bruce K. Rutherford

Egypt after Mubarak
PRINCETON STUDIES IN MUSLIM POLITICS
DaleF.EickelmanandAugustusRichardNorton,Editors
Egypt after Mubarak
LIBERALISM, ISLAM, AND DEMOCRACY
IN THE ARAB WORLD
Bruce K. Rutherford
with a new introduction by the author
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Copyright©2008byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,6OxfordStreet,Woodstock,
OxfordshireOX201TW
press.princeton.edu
AllRightsReserved
Sixth printing, and first paperback printing, with a new introduction by the author, 2013
Paperback ISBN 978-0-691-15804-4
The LibraryofCongresshas cataloged the cloth edition of this book as follows
Rutherford,BruceK.
EgyptafterMubarak:liberalism,Islam,anddemocracyintheArabworld/
BruceK.Rutherford.
p. cm.—(PrincetonstudiesinMuslimpolitics)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-691-13665-3(hardcover:alk.paper)
1.Egypt—Politicsandgovernment—21stcentury—Forecasting.
2.Islamandpolitics—Egypt—Forecasting.3.Democracy—Egypt.
4.Liberalism—Egypt.5.Jam’iyatal-Ikhwanal-Muslimin(Egypt)—
Politicalactivity.6.Lawyers—Egypt—Politicalactivity.7.Egypt—
Economicpolicy.I.Title.
JQ3881.R872008
320.962—dc22 2008019455
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailable
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinPostscriptGalliardTypeface
Printedonacid-freepaper.∞
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6
To the Memory of My Parents

Contents
Introduction to t he Paperback Edition ix
Acknowledgments
CHAPTERONE
HybridRegimesandArabDemocracy 1
CHAPTERTWO
LiberalConstitutionalism:PreservingandAdaptingEgypt’s
LiberalTradition 32
CHAPTERTHREE
IslamicConstitutionalism:ThePoliticalGoalsofModerateIslam 77
CHAPTERFOUR
TheDeclineofStatismandtheConvergenceofPolitical
Alternatives 131
CHAPTERFIVE
EconomicRestructuringandtheRiseofMarketLiberalism 197
CHAPTERSIX
Liberalism,Islam,andEgypt’sPoliticalFuture 231
Bibliography 261
Index 279

Introduction to the Paperback Edition
When Egypt aftEr Mubarak appeared in 2008, the country seemed to
have a stable authoritarian regime. The book argued that this stability was
illusory and that the economic and ideological foundations of the statist
order of Mubarak were eroding. However, it was unclear when or how a
new order would emerge. The book speculated that change would unfold
gradually rather than through dramatic transformation of the political and
social systems. This prediction was both right and wrong. The rapid re-
moval of Husni Mubarak after eighteen days of massive demonstrations
was completely unexpected. However, the pace of reform has been far less
rapid and less dramatic than participants in those demonstrations hoped.
Change is under way in Egypt. But, its end is not clear and the road ahead
is likely to be long and difficult.1
The Fall oF Pharaoh
As Egypt after Mubarak discusses in chapters 4 and 5, Mubarak’s Egypt
faced a fundamental contradiction. Since the 1960s, the regime had made
a commitment to provide citizens with a wide range of services including
jobs in the public sector and the civil service as well as substantial subsi-
dies on food, electricity, gasoline, public transportation, education, and
medical care. The regime’s legitimacy was grounded in providing these
benefits. However, the economy simply did not generate sufficient wealth
or state revenue to sustain these services, particularly as Egypt’s popula-
tion grew dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s. The regime began to cut
back in 1991 as part of a broad market-o riented reform plan. Mubarak
and his international supporters hoped that a restructuring of the econ-
omy to focus on market forces would generate economic growth, satisfy
the public’s expectations of government, and revive the legitimacy of the
regime. However, as explained below, these reforms were implemented
imperfectly. The rate of job creation was inadequate and the gains from
economic restructuring flowed mostly to a small elite. The privatization
plan at the heart of the reform program was plagued by corruption in
which state assets were sold at fire sale prices to businessmen with close
ties to the regime. In addition, the country suffered from high rates of
1 I am grateful to Nathan Brown for comments on an earlier draft of this essay and to
Mark Robson for excellent research assistance.