Egypt
Fundamental information for understanding the state of political reform in Egypt
Prospects for Political Reform
» Egypt Update: The Latest
Muslim Brotherhood students are trying to start the first religious club in the American University in Cairo, one of the few remaining secular footholds in Egypt. The club’s purpose would be to lobby the university administration to build a mosque on campus. The AUC administration has refused on both counts, citing the school’s secular principles, but has agreed to meet with the students to discuss their concerns.
I just read a working paper by Stanford professor Lisa Blaydes, titled: “Who Votes in Authoritarian Elections and Why? Determinants of Voter Turnout in Contemporary Egypt.” Definitely worth your time. Of interest is a fascinating passage on the mechanics of vote buying: “At the beginning of the day a voter leaves the polling station without having voted. This ballot is then filled out by the vote broker and handed to the vote seller. The vote seller submits this ballot in the polling station and returns a blank ballot to the vote broker. The vote seller is paid after coming out of the station with this blank ballot. This process is then repeated throughout the day. In this way the vote buyer always fills out the ballot without fear that the voter will have a chance to make his own choice.”
» From The POMED Wire
Egypt–Hybrid, Stable, yet Challenged
[Dec 30] Michael Allen at Democracy Digest highlights a new book on Egypt by Bruce K. Rutherford, “Egypt after Mubarak: Liberalism, Islam, and Democracy in the Arab World.” Read…
Succession Dilemmas Abound in Egypt
[Dec 18] At Democracy Digest, Michael Allen writes about Egypt’s succession crisis and provides a batch of links dealing with the Mubarak regime’s moribund pace of…
more »
The State of Political Reform
Political Parties and Participation
- Egypt's Muslim Brothers: Confrontation or Integration
International Crisis Group, June 2008 - The Draft Party Platform of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: Foray Into Political Integration or Retreat Into Old Positions?
Carnegie Endowment, January 2008 - The Brotherhood's Dilemma
Crown Center for Middle East Studies, January 2008 - more »
Human Rights
- Civil Liberties in Egypt: 2007
Freedom House - Human Rights in Egypt: Events in 2007
Human Rights Watch - Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom
Human Rights Watch, January 2007 - more »
Elections
- Electoral and Social Tensions Spike in Egypt
Washington Institute on Near East Policy, April 2008 - Assessment of the Electoral Framework: Final Report
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights | Overview of Egypt's electoral and institutional context - Egyptian Legislative Elections: A Reading of the Results
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, December 2005 - more »
Press Freedom
- Press Freedom in Egypt 2007
Freedom House Country Report - Comparative Report on the State of Media in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco
International Foundation for Electoral Systems, May 2007 - Journalism in Egypt: Caught Between Laws and the Government
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, July 2006 - more »
Political Institutions
- The Political Economy of Reform in Egypt: Understanding the Role of Institutions
Carnegie Endowment, October 2007 - Comparative Report on the State of the Judiciary in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco
International Foundation for Electoral Systems, May 2007 - Egypt's Constitutional Amendments
Carnegie Endowment, March 2007 - more »
U.S. Democracy Promotion Policy
Legislation
- For an overview of U.S. legislation relating to political reform in Egypt, see the Congressional Policy and Foreign Assistance section of the Egypt backgrounder
- H.R. 2764 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008
(Summary | Full Text | POMED Analysis) - H.R.2977: Egyptian Counterterrorism and Political Reform Act, 2007
(Summary | Full Text | POMED Analysis) - H.R. 2601 [109th]: Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007
(Summary | Full Text)
Congressional Hearings
- Hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: Appointment of Three Ambassadors
including Margaret Scobey for Egypt, February 6, 2008
(Text of Amb. Scobey’s statement | POMED Summary) - Hearing of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight: “Ideals vs. Reality in Human Rights and US Foreign Policy: the Cases of Azerbaijan, Cuba and Egypt,” July 12, 2007
(Transcript | POMED Summary)
Assistance Programs
- USAID Democracy and Governance Program
Annual Program Statement 2008 - U.S. Foreign Assistance to the Middle East: Historical Background, Recent Trends, and the FY2008 Request
Congressional Research Service, July 2007
Public Statements
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Comments to State Department advisory committee on democracy promotion, 10/8/08: “It has been very hard in Egypt. The progress has not been everything in Egypt that we would have hoped for. We have had setbacks there, we have had disappointments there. It is very hard when I have to sit in front of young democracy advocates and have them say ‘Why have you not been advocating more on our behalf’. We have been. We are not going to fail to have relations with the Egyptian government but we do advocate on their behalf.”
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Briefing en route Andrews Air Force Base, 8/2/07: Comments on whether she brought up the case of Ayman Nour in her meeting with President Hosni Mubarak, “And yes, I did raise the issue of Ayman Nour, talked about it extensively with President Mubarak. And I said that I was disappointed that the court decision had come out as it was — I know – as it did. I know that there is going to be an appeal and it’s certainly the hope of the United States that that appeal will be looked upon favorably.”
