Egyptian Politics: The Dynamics of Authoritarian Rule

By Maye Kassem

Though the regimes of Egyptian presidents Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak have been decidedly different, the nature of personal authoritarian rule in Egypt has remained virtually unchanged across more than... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1588262472
• ISBN13: 9781588262479
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Lynne Rienner Pub
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A good primer on Egyptian politics

This is a readable and scholarly examination of the stratagems used in all aspects of public life to keep the Egyptian ruling elites in place. Kassem sets the study into the body of theory surrounding autocratic rule, buttressing that theory with a detailed examination of the techniques employed by the National Democratic Party to maintain the stability of its rule by dominating political parties and processes, regulating civil society, and managing the opposition. She shows that the elites have been remarkably successful in this and argues--against conventional wisdom--that the regime in Egypt is stable, exhibiting remarkable continuity from Nasser's socialism to Mubarak's veneer of multi-party democracy. The received fiction of the instability of the Middle East is long overdue for a debunking, and for that observation alone, Kassem's book is worthwhile. At the same time, she provides readers with a concise history of the truly interesting events of Egyptian political life since the Revolution, appropriately lingering longer over those more recent. The currency of the work thus ties together recent events on the Egyptian political scene while at the same time placing those in a coherent historical perspective. This work covers much of the same material as Eberhard Kienle's recent book A Grand Delusion: Democracy and Economic Reform in Egypt (Taurus Press, 2001). But where he treats his subject from an economic point of view, Kassem, true to her discipline, observes the political aspects of the same. She thereby adds a valuable dimension to the analysis.