The Autumn of Dictatorship

Over the last thirty years, the Egyptian state has increasingly given its citizens less money and benefits while simultaneously asking for more taxes and resources. But contrary to expectations, the resulting fiscal crisis has not brought the country's authoritarian regime to an end. Strong Regime, Weak Stateexamines how Mubarak's political regime has succeeded despite the decline of its revenues, and how affairs between state and society, and across different levels of government, are in turn affected. Studying the regime based on its deeds rather than its discourse, this book tackles the relationship between public finance and politics in Egypt. Ultimately, the Egyptian case is not one of the success of a regime, but rather the failure of a state. The regime succeeds because it is able to sustain and reproduce itself, but the state fails as it is unable to facilitate capitalist development in the country. As the book reveals, the financial crisis has profoundly changed the socio-economic constituency of the Egyptian regime, and is paving the way for political change and the emergence of new social forces.