Egypt: Military vs. Revolutionary

Abstract: The aim of this thesis has been to provide explanations on why Egypt’s democratization process has failed. The central question has thus been: Why has the democratic transition failed in Egypt after a popular revolution and democratic elections secured the country’s first ever civilian government in the summer of 2012? By using the relevant theories on transitology we have sought to answer our question by analyzing the actions of the main political actors in Egypt. With focus on mainly the events after the Egyptian revolution, we have used various sources made up of personal interviews, scientific articles and recent news reports. Our findings show that two main political actors, the Muslim Brotherhood and the military, to this day act under authoritarian tactics. Thus, Egypt has only succeeded in taking a shape of an “authoritarian-democratic hybrid” regime where political elites manipulate democratic institutions to serve their own self-interests. Until the authoritarian core of Egypt is crushed, democracy cannot and will not prevail.