Egypt\u27s Perilous Journey

We as students have been conditioned to believe that rule by democracy is the most free and fair method of governing. If we hold this to be true, I inquire: why do some Arab states prove resistant to the spread of democracy within government? In order to fully evaluate the merits of a democratic form of government, it is important to analyze the obstacles that hinder its success. Within this research, the gap that I have identified concerns how the overall economic state of nation affects its ability to transition to democracy. I hypothesize that nations facing economic struggle are less likely to experience a smooth transition to democracy, resulting from an overall decrease in citizen satisfaction. The technique that I will employ in my research will be the case- study method, focusing on Egypt. I have set my focus primarily on the case of Egypt. Egypt possesses a weak economy and has experienced a rocky changeover to democracy, making it highly suitable for this study. This form of research is preferable, as I am looking to explain the behavior of this group as a whole, and not behavior of the individuals in the group. This will be a small- N study as I am interested solely in Egypt on an in-depth scale. My method of collecting my data will be to build off the work of others. I will read analyses of the state of Egypt and its democracy, as well as articles pertaining to its economy in order to examine the related nature of these two elements. Additionally, I will do research on sites like Country Watch in order to gain an overview of the state, and view economic trends with the hopes of understanding the patterns of the Egyptian economy and how they affect the quality of its democracy