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Constitutionalist Contention in Contemporary Egypt

Barnard College, New York

This article tackles the problem of political—institutional change in undemocratic regimes commonly considered impervious to meaningful political contention. Egypt is one of the contemporary world's most stolid authoritarian regimes, a superpresidential system in which all effective power resides in the executive. It has been governed by uninterrupted emergency law since 1981 and since 1992 has experienced a further process of political deliberalization. Simultaneously, Egyptian politics have witnessed the rise of new political actors: courts, human rights organizations, and professional associations. What explains such manifestations of political dynamism in the midst of political stasis? This article contends that two processes of legal mobilization and internationalization have interacted to produce revived courts, new human rights organizations, and transformed professional unions. This interpretation departs from the emphasis on authoritarian resilience in the Middle East, advancing a more relational conception of state—society relations.

Key Words: Egypt • authoritarianism • political contention • legal mobilization

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