Arabiska våren och dess efterspel : En jämförande demokratiseringsstudie mellan Tunisien och Egypten

It has been ten years since the 26-year-old fruit seller set himself on fire to protest corruption in Tunisia. The street vendor created a wave of protests in the Arab world, a campaign for civil resistance, better known as the "Arab Spring". The protests led to the removal of long-standing authoritarian regimes in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya. The civil resistance was a result of an economic crisis, high unemployment and corruption. The citizens of the arab world were demanding freedom of expression and greater civil rights. Tunisia became a successful example, where the country today is a complete democracy. In Egypt, the revolution also led to democratization, but for a short period of time. Egypt became more authoritarian after a coup led by the military. The other states failed and the consequences have been devastating with results of civil wars in Libya and Yemen. The main purpose of this essay was to sort out and understand why Tunisia succeeded to become a democracy after the arab spring 2010, while Egypt failed. A qualitative analysis with a comparative democratization study, composed of a most different system-design. The theoretical framework is based on Samuel Huntington (1991) “third wave democratization” and the author’s criteria on democracy, which includes regime legitimacy, economical modernization, and religious change.