PERCEPTION OF THE ELITE COMMUNITY ON DEMOCRACY IN EGYPT

Abstract

The choice of the elites in this study is based upon the understanding that this important segment of the population must be taken into consideration in order to have a complete picture of Egypts political transition. The role of elites "intellectuals" in any society is indeed one of the crucial elements to the development of society. The Egyptian elites proved their important role when they sparked the Egyptian January revolution in 2011. Most of the new scholars were eager to know the perception of the Egyptian elite community on democracy, political system and ways of governance in one of the most famous revolutions in the Arab world, keeping in mind that the elite activists of January 25 uprising spanned to disenfranchised Egyptians, the working class, and politicized reformers. Since the demonstrations began, discussion of the political path forward has engaged not only elites, but also the ordinary citizens. The Egyptian elites' perception about the real problem concerning the democracy and political system is the weak state which is the lack of the IV role of the state institutions, in addition to the lack of consolidation and solidarity that led to the absence of democracy in Egypt. The elites believe that democracy can be reactivated only by two channels, first

the reform of the state institutions , second

raise awareness among people of concepts such as equality, freedom of speech, etc. Although the scene of democracy and political system as well as economic growth of Egypt might be gloomy currently, the Egyptian elites are optimistic that these transitional periods usually take years until the country get back to the right track with their contribution in the process of democratization.