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Non -violent Revolution As A Means Of Democratic Change In Africa
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1.2 Statement of the problem
Democratic governance
envisages that those in the commanding heights of the economy like our
leaders must strive to ensure that those essential life needs must be
made available to the peoples. This is not so with the people of Egypt,
rather what we see are human societies wearing community features
manifested in corruption, bad road difficulty in transportation, lack of
good drinking water, rigged election, power failures, unemployment,
poor health facilities, general poverty, inadequate accommodation among
others.
The fundamental question, is how could a regime
change be ensured thereby bringing an end to this autocratic and
oppressive regime. Basically two schools of thought emerged with
different views on how to ensure regime changes, the Realistic school
and the Strategic school of thought. The Realistic school argued that
the best way to bring about change to an autocratic regime is through
violent revolution. Scholars attributed to this view are Rogan (2011),
Dankiract (1990), Nwabueze (1993). To this group of scholars, the
autocrat wilds a lot power and the only way to oust him from office will
be through violent revolution. On the other side of this ideological
divide, the Strategic school of thought is of the view that the best way
to ensure a regime change in an autocratic dispensation is through
non-violent revolution. Contributions of non-violent scholars such as
Arthur Romano (2011), Greene sharp (1973), Greene sharp (2005), Greene
sharp (2011) Hand Judith (2010), Henry David Thoreau (1848), Luther King
Jr(1967) among others have confirmed that non-violent demonstration
remains the only way of making government change its policies when
citizens feel unhealthy over such policies. These scholars foresaw a
time when non-violent revolution would be geared towards a regime change
entirely as was the case in Egypt. Generally, it is notable that, Egypt
during the reign of Hosni Mubarrak was characterized with poor national
economic performance, high level of corruption, joblessness, rising
cost of food, regime misbehaviours and a lost of faith in the electoral
system (Sorenson and Mazo 2011). This precipitated the non-violent
revolution aimed at bringing about democratic change in Egypt. Notably,
the Egyptian revolution was not of authoritarianism or repression, it
was that of the problem of personalization of power. In other words, the
revolution in Egypt had political, moral and economic causations as
such it was a moral, political and economic one. Moral in the sense that
it fought against corruption, political as in the quest for political
freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights and Economic
freedom in that the citizens want to have a stake in the wealth and
resources of the country and also have the poverty level reduced. It was
a revolution of rising expectations, the quest for a better life,
respect for human rights, reforms, political change, sovereignty and
economic independence from indigenous colonial lords. It was a struggle
for political transformation in the term that encapsulates the desires
of the people. Generally, the protests were motivated or fueled by the
quest for democratization and expanded citizen’s participation in
politics. It is against this backdrop that this study examines the
extent to which this non-violent revolution has brought about democratic
changes in Egypt.
The problem of the study is therefore articulated in the following research questions.
i. To what extent has the Egyptian non-violent revolution brought about democratic change in Egypt?
ii. Has the democratic change enhanced the standard of living of the people of Egypt?
iii.
How have the activities of the elites, the military and Islamic forces,
against Hosni Mubarak contributed in ensuring democratic change in
Egypt?
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