It's been awhile since I had the chance to do a proper blog as I've been busy with midterms and work. I have not had an opportunity to blog about one of the biggest events in political behaviour and (so far) in politics this year: Egypt. On Friday, February 11, 2011, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down after 18 straight days of protests. The largest protest was held in Cairo's Tahrir Square where people built tents and vowed to remain until Mubarak stepped down.
What we have just seen in Egypt (and other, surrounding countries to a degree) is a combination of the power of the people and the power of the Internet generation. To force political change, there are many ways of going about it. The first, and most obvious, is to hold elections where people can choose the political actors they want to represent them. However, as we saw in Egypt over the past 30 years, elections were not effective at all. Were they free elections? No. Any form of free elections will never be free in a autocratic country.
Knowing this, the Egyptian people began to participate in community groups and forums calling for the removal of Mubarak and the implementation of democracy. These groups gained power over the past 5-10 years which lead to more people paying attention to their cause. Its the same principles that power politics all over the world: if enough people rally for a cause, it will get the attention of politicians. Unfortunately for the Egyptian people, these groups were largely ignored which elevated the movement to the final form of political participation: protest. The Egyptian protest was probably one of the largest in recent history (if you factor in post WWII Europe). It was very visible and a good deal of effort was required to organize them daily.
A lot of the organization was done through social media like Facebook. In Canada, we have already seen the power of Facebook to organize mass demonstrations such as the Tamil protests in downtown Toronto over a year ago. The power of Youtube was also harnessed so the entire world could have video of the happenings in Egypt at their fingertips. In the early days of the Egyptian protest, a lot of the videos shown on the news were Youtube videos as it was nearly impossible to get a camera crew into the protest.
There was obviously a much higher male population participating in the protests as Egypt is a traditional Muslim state. However, it was good to see Muslim women out in the streets and willingly shouting anti-government slogans at the police and military. Perhaps this is a sign of a much larger cultural movement in Egypt.
Now that Mubarak has fallen, many Egyptians claim they will now have a democracy. With the military now in control, many are questioning how Egypt's new supposed democracy will look. Many are celebrating like they already have a democracy. While I understand the enthusiasm they are expressing, democracy is still a lot of work and is something that will take a lot of time. Proper institutions must be established while also re-writing much of Egypt's national and foreign policy which could have a beneficial or adverse affect on trade.
Look how long Canada has taken to get the point that we are at today. Some may even argue that Canada still doesn't have a true democracy as not all are able to freely participate for a number of reasons. Perhaps the best thing is a liberal democracy which enlists limits on our rights. This is what I believe the people of Egypt should strive towards. It is something that will take a great deal of time but, based on their recent out-pouring of desire, it is something they are willing to work towards. There is no telling what this change will do to the entire area of Northern Africa. Perhaps protests and social media have yet to meet their full democratizing ability in that part of the world.
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