Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Political Science
On The Need For Human Rights To Constitute Structural Change: Lessons For Colombia From The Arab Spring’S Failures, Anthony Chase
On The Need For Human Rights To Constitute Structural Change: Lessons For Colombia From The Arab Spring’S Failures, Anthony Chase
Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights
Transitional processes have nowhere failed as spectacularly than in the wake of the Arab Spring's "revolutions." Contrary to popular expectations, these revolutions gave way to counter-revolutions rather than transitions to democracy and pluralistic politics. This article argues that, by settling for transitions to mere formal democracies, an opportunity was lost to engage in necessary structural change. While understandable that transitional processes shied away from addressing controversial issues -- including how to translate diversity in religious, gender, sexual, and ideological domains into the foundation of new political communities -- not doing so was a fatal error as it left untouched preexisting …
The Importance Of Choice: Political Intermediaries And Democratization In Egypt After The Arab Spring, Matthew Lacouture
The Importance Of Choice: Political Intermediaries And Democratization In Egypt After The Arab Spring, Matthew Lacouture
Student Research Symposium
Is post-revolution Egypt demonstrably different from the ancien régime? Where and between whom is political competition currently taking place? In the aggregative conception, democracy requires the presence of substantive political choice, differentiated through 'robust' competition between intermediaries – most often political parties – that serve to effectively aggregate and articulate political preferences. This produces an observable and genuine link between public preferences and government policies. In Egypt, the lack of a coheren and viable alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) – itself an amalgamation of conflicting and particularistic interests – has deprived the people of any …