Deconstructing the Relation between Law and Authoritarianism: How Law Consolidated Authoritarianism in Post-2011 Egypt

What is it about?

In this article, I examine how law and authoritarianism have operated in Egypt since 2011. I argue that law and legal mechanisms in Egypt have not simply reinforced authoritarianism but also been the avenue through which embryonic moves toward the rule of law have been arrested and even reversed. The argument in this article unfolds on two levels. First, law and authoritarianism are not opposites. Not only can they co-exist; they can support each other. However, the ways that they support each other very—authoritarian systems are not all alike. Second, law and authoritarianism have gone together in several ways in Egypt in the past, but since 2013, the law has been a tool not simply of authoritarianism in general but in allowing the president al-Sisi and military institution to assert control over the state and the society; and place themselves outside of the legal/constitutional mechanisms and accountability.

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