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Arab exceptionalism? A case study of Egypt’s regime breakdown

El Hamalawy, Nadim LU (2011) STVK01 20112
Department of Political Science
Abstract
The focus of this study is to examine how an authoritarian regime within the Arab world, remarkably stable and long deemed as inhospitable to democratic tendencies, ‘suddenly’ witnessed mass pro-democracy movements and ultimately regime breakdown. In this thesis the case of Egypt is discussed. Firstly, in an attempt at establishing the core working mechanisms of an authoritarian regime; the conclusion being that the answer lies in the regime’s hybrid nature coupled with its access to rents and international legitimacy, and factors which have sustained its coercive methods and capabilities; and not cultural or religious attributes of the region. Secondly, the core mechanisms resulting in the breakdown of the regime is established. Here... (More)
The focus of this study is to examine how an authoritarian regime within the Arab world, remarkably stable and long deemed as inhospitable to democratic tendencies, ‘suddenly’ witnessed mass pro-democracy movements and ultimately regime breakdown. In this thesis the case of Egypt is discussed. Firstly, in an attempt at establishing the core working mechanisms of an authoritarian regime; the conclusion being that the answer lies in the regime’s hybrid nature coupled with its access to rents and international legitimacy, and factors which have sustained its coercive methods and capabilities; and not cultural or religious attributes of the region. Secondly, the core mechanisms resulting in the breakdown of the regime is established. Here again, the hybrid nature of the regime is argued to play a key role. With its periods of liberalization, civil society has been allowed space and, consequently, grown. These movements were later able to seize the opportunity and galvanize masses, spurred by the successful revolts in Tunisia and peoples’, long overdue, discontent with President Mubarak and the regime. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
El Hamalawy, Nadim LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK01 20112
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Regime breakdown, Hybrid regime, Arab exceptionalism, 2011 revolts, Egypt
language
English
id
2199099
date added to LUP
2011-12-07 09:34:11
date last changed
2011-12-07 09:34:11
@misc{2199099,
  abstract     = {{The focus of this study is to examine how an authoritarian regime within the Arab world, remarkably stable and long deemed as inhospitable to democratic tendencies, ‘suddenly’ witnessed mass pro-democracy movements and ultimately regime breakdown. In this thesis the case of Egypt is discussed. Firstly, in an attempt at establishing the core working mechanisms of an authoritarian regime; the conclusion being that the answer lies in the regime’s hybrid nature coupled with its access to rents and international legitimacy, and factors which have sustained its coercive methods and capabilities; and not cultural or religious attributes of the region. Secondly, the core mechanisms resulting in the breakdown of the regime is established. Here again, the hybrid nature of the regime is argued to play a key role. With its periods of liberalization, civil society has been allowed space and, consequently, grown. These movements were later able to seize the opportunity and galvanize masses, spurred by the successful revolts in Tunisia and peoples’, long overdue, discontent with President Mubarak and the regime.}},
  author       = {{El Hamalawy, Nadim}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Arab exceptionalism? A case study of Egypt’s regime breakdown}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}