The Reversal of Political Liberalization in Egypt

The purpose of this article is to examine conceptual and analytical issues behind the political deliberalization process in Egypt. In order to do that, the article will first study the approaches such as international context, civil society, political culture, and political economy, which are considered as significant factors that shape Arab countries' political liberalization process. In this analysis, the article will concentrate on the most important component of the Egyptian domestic context, "rise of political Islam," in other words, increasing role of Islamic fundamentalists in Egyptian politics. The article will examine how the "rise of political Islam" shapes each approach, which is effective in the processes of political liberalization and deliberalization in Egyptian political life.