Overview
The recent political events that took place in the Middle East Region have raised a lot of questions concerning whether the attributes of governance that are embraced by autocratic regimes can be sustainable. The most discussed case in the political events that took place in the Arab region is the Egyptian revolution, where the citizenry was persistent enough to oust the regime that had been in political power for approximately thirty years. With the establishment of a new government in the country under the leadership of President Mohammed Morsi, a substantial number of questions are still raised on the tactics that will be applied by the government to ensure that it sustains power devoid of resistance from the citizenry. In the book titled: “Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places,” Paul Collier explores some of the tactics that can be used by autocracy minded leaders to retain attributes of autocratic governance in a state that seeks to embrace principles of democracy in governance (Filipec, 2009). This research explores some of the tactics that are brought out in Collier’s text and how they result in the failure of the contemporary government in Egypt to maintain political power. The tactics that are critiqued in the paper are the change in governance by embracing positive principles of governance, lying to the electorate, and scapegoating the minority.
Becoming a good government
The reason why a revolution was staged in Egypt was to press for change that entails good attributes of governance. The mere presence of a new government in the country is, therefore, widely seen as a new form of leadership in the country. One main concern about this suggestion is how good governance can be portrayed in a country in which the antecedents of autocracy are still in the minds of most of the people. The cost of becoming a good government, as proposed by Collier, is quite high and has a lot of implications on the political sustenance of the government of President Mohammed Morsi (Filipec, 2009).
The first step in the attempt to mould the government and picture it well in the eyes of the public is to win the detractors. This is what formed the first agenda of president Morsi during his early years of trying to establish a democratic government in Egypt. While this tactic can help in attaining political support and bring about a favorable environment for pursuing democracy, it also has its setbacks in the process of democratization. It should be noted that one of the main goals of the Egyptian government should be to embrace the principles of democracy on governance because this was one of the causes of the political uprising in the country. There ought to be a balance between the appeasement of the detractors and the pursuance of reforms (Fletcher, 2012). Appeasing detractors translates into accommodating them in governance. Some of the detractors are the same people who were critiqued for poor governance of the country. Thus they are bound to oppose governance from within, bar reforms, and put the government efforts in jeopardy. It should be noted that the country is still in the revolutionary mood, and several political and religious groups in the country have their interests, which do not match with the interests of the entire citizenry. This is the reason why violence and violent opposition is still being witnessed in the country (Peralta, 2012).
The other critical element in the governance of President Morsi should be the championing of change as an element of good governance. Change is embedded in the constitutions of the country, which is already facing opposition for retaining the attributes of governance that were embedded in the old constitution. The implication is, therefore, that the more Morsi continues to enforce the attributes of change that are embraced in the constitution of the country, the more his government will face opposition from the political factions in the country (Ottaway, 2012). How the reforms that are embedded in the constitutions can, therefore, be enforced without bringing political division in the country remains to be a mystery. According to Hendawi (2012), the basis of political change and good governance in Egypt is the constitution, which has already been critiqued for giving the president more powers. It can, therefore, be said that bringing about a positive look of governance in Egypt is a complex matter that cannot be easily addressed by way of trying to portray the attributes of good governance.
Lying to the electors
In a review of the work of Collier, Filipec (2009) observed that lying to the electorate is a kind of propaganda that is used for propagating power in most autocratic regimes across the world. Controlling the flow of information in the contemporary political economy in Egypt is quite difficult because most of the Egyptian population has access to the internet and other communication tools like mobile phones, which help them to access and pass across the information. Morsi, therefore, does not seem to embrace the protection of the message, but he embraces open governance by inviting protestors and opposition to the political regime in the country (Stangel, Ghosh & Vick, 2012). How this can work for him and the retention of power in the next few years is an issue of concern to several commentators on political matters and democracy in the Arab world. The invitation of opposition and protest in a country whose political environment is characterized by the presence of political and religious factions is quite dangerous as far as the sustainability of political power by the political regime is concerned. Instead of guarding the message, Morsi is fond of confronting issues, which results in the attraction of more protest and opposition.
Guarding the message would have worked well as far as the pacification of the political environment in the country is concerned. Failure to guard the message could result in lethal levels of opposition and protest, thereby making it quite difficult for the Morsi regime to contain the opposition. The open criticism of issues and affirmation of certain political inclinations are also bound to put the regime at loggerheads with other political regimes, which has a negative connotation on the sustenance of power by Morsi (Mustafa al-Labbad, 2012).
Scapegoating a minority
Contrary to the acclamations that he made before clinching the presidency of the country, Morsi has chosen to shun form accusing minority groups of the problems that engulf Egypt. This is irrespective of his belief that the Jews and the state of Israel have a responsibility for the political situation in the country. The influence of Israel in the politics of Egypt will continue to be felt, irrespective of whether Morsi avoids confronting Israel for its participation in fostering opposition in the country. There is a need to confront the underlying developments in the political relation between Egypt and other countries that have both a direct and indirect influence on the politics of the country. Covering issues results in underground developments that may explode later, resulting in the loss of political control by the regime (Sustar, 2012).
References
Filipec, O. (2009). Paul Collier: Wars, guns, and votes: Democracy in dangerous places. Book Review. New York, NY: Harper/Harper Collins Publishers. Web.
Fletcher, M. (2012). President Morsi of Egypt offers talks to appease opponents.The Sunday Times. Web.
Hendawi, H. (2012). Morsi’s constitutional declarations grant Egypt’s president far-reaching powers. Huffington Post. Web.
Mustafa al-Labbad, A. (2012). Morsi’s Iran speech reasserts Egypt’s regional role. ALMONITOR. Web.
Ottaway, M. (2012). Egypt’s struggle for power. Web.
Peralta, E. (2012). In Egypt, political rift deepens, anger grows, protests continue. Web.
Stangel, R., Ghosh, B., & Vick, K. (2012). Transcript: TIME’s interview with Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. Web.
Sustar, L. (2012). Will Morsi hijack the revolution? Web.