CCAS
newsletter
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
Georgetown University
Inside
Summer - Fall 2012
FEATURE STORY
The Changing Calculus of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s Electoral Participation
2 Letter from the Director 3 Faculty Memorial: Dr. Barbara Stowasser 5 Faculty News: Recent Faculty publications and awards
ccas.georgetown.edu
Before Hosni Mubarak's ouster, the Brotherhood's electoral strategy was to effect slow, gradual change through political da´wa. This strategy has now radically changed.
Publications: Moroccan Dimensions published
6 Feature Story: Dr. Samer Shehata on the Muslim Brotherhood (continued from cover)
By Samer Shehata
T
8 Faculty Showcase: Adjunct Professor Kimberly Katz on the “Islamic” city
he
Egyptian Muslim Brother-
hood and its political arm, the
Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has enthusiastically participated in elections in the post-Mubarak period. Earlier this year, the FJP won over 40 percent of seats in the country’s first parliamentary elections after “the January 25 revolution.” And now Mohamed Morsy, the FJP candidate, has made history by becoming the country's first democratically elected civilian president.
10 Public Events: Spring 2012 symposium and other events 13 Educational Outreach: Spring 2012 workshops and activities 15 Alumni: 20 MAAS students graduate
It is easy to understand why Egypt's most popular Islamist movement participates in competitive elections that hold the promise of achieving real political power. What is less obvious, however, is why the Muslim Brotherhood would participate in elections that were routinely fraudulent under the Mubarak regime. But this is, in fact, the group’s history. Samer Shehata
16 Faculty Feature: Dr. Samer Shehata on recent research
The Brotherhood has a long record of electoral participation, competing in every legislative election since 1984, with only one exception. What makes this surprising is that
FJP supporters attend a campaign event for Mohamed Morsy in the Nile Delta city of Benha, Egypt, on May 17, 2012.
during Hosni Mubarak’s rule (1981–2011), Egyptian elections were regularly characterized by widespread electoral fraud, including ballot-stuffing, biased electoral administration, vote buying, regime coercion against opposition supporters and candidates, and violence, often on the part of the regime against its opponents. As a result, elections in Egypt provided neither an opportunity to come to power through the ballot box nor a mechacontinued on page 6 nism for opposition
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