The role of domestic factors on the failed transition to democracy in Egypt 1

This paper focuses on the roles of the domestic factors on the failed transition to democracy in Egypt. Domestic factors had important impact on the authoritarian regime and established order in Egypt. The defenders of the established order had gotten much income from the authoritarian regime, yet many people had gotten less income from the state. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, the internal dynamics in Egypt Arab Spring served not to change the balances in the Middle East, but to the continuation of the institutional order (the established order). The domestic factors such as social, political and economic factors were the reasons of uprising. The former regime supporters regained the power by the military coup d’état with financial and political support from global actors.


Introduction
People have their own unique and distinctive cultural characteristics in the world like all regions.In fact, Egypt is not a region where democracy is uniquely unsuitable or has an oriental despotic behavior.The Egyptian people have always tried to be namely democratic, yet their authoritarian leaders did not make possible such an environment.The attempt to democracy in MENA, especially in Egypt, asserts that the Western outlook is not right when they claim the culture, social-economic and political situation do not fit for democratic governance.Moghadam (2013:394) made the definition of democracy like that "democracy is a response to the needs of individuals and societies for a better way of life.Also, it is a process and not an end and it is a type of political system in which power alternates through regular, competitive elections in which citizens enjoy basic rights".Bingöl (2011:13) stated that "democracy is not a final point, yet an endless process; therefore, democracy cannot be consolidated".This definition suits the situation of Egyptian case.Toscano et al. (2012:11) defined that "democracy is premised on the principles of freedom of choice, expression, association, equal citizenship and inclusion of all… it is also premised on free and fair elections, separation of powers, accountability and transparency".The Egyptian society tried to reach the welfare of the democracy by applying the criteria gradually.
Different conditions and historical circumstances are conducive to varying movement outcomes.Toscano et al. (2012:11) stated that "the democratic practice can vary from time to time and from place to place according to norms of the society and its choices.Thus, there is no perfect model of democracy".Every society and culture can decide their democracy model with its own cultural values and social values.Yet, while deciding the model of democracy it should be done carefully in order to not understand democracy like a dictatorial regime or one candidate election.
The geography and place of the country is very important in order to implement democratic criteria.As expressed by General Al-Sisi, the transition to democracy may endanger the interests of the United States of America; therefore, the US is not going to allow any endangerment of Israel's or its benefits.It also displays that the East is still in the West's compassion; therefore, the West can dictate the criteria according to their wills and interests.In the Egyptian case, it was seen that Morsi was not fit for their interest in the region to which they paved the way into the military coup.Cammack (1994:353) claimed that "there were fundamental differences in the culture and nature of the MENA region countries to Western culture and thus they were not a good ground for Western democracy to flourish".There may be some differences in cultures, but democracy is not just about the political culture.The Western countries look at the situation according to the geostrategic interests of them, so they do not see any practical implications in Egypt.The USA and Western countries have supported the dicta regimes for the sake of their benefits and interests.Barnes (2013:62) indicated that "the impact of the US democracy and governance activities in Egypt has been limited and unnoticeable in indexes describing the country's democratic environment".Desai (2012:2) emphasizes that "there is no effect of Western aid on democracy".Because their aids did not fit the real owners, the money turned into an aid to the dictators who obeyed and continued the stability.
What is the transition to democracy?"A transition is the interval between one political regime and another.Transitions are delimited on the one side by the launching of the process of dissolution of an authoritarian regime and on the other by the installation of some form of democracy, the return to some form of authoritarian rule, or the emergence of a revolutionary alternative" (O'Donnell andSchmitter 1986, quoted in Mainwaring 1989:6).This definition emphasizes the process and expected approach.The transition period can or cannot pave the way to democracy and can or cannot yield to stability in a country.Trabelsi (2013:254) defined transition as that "democratic transition is a political process known by a progressive movement from a governance system to another capable of achieving the main democratic principles".Therefore, if Morsi had not been ousted by a coup; the transition to democracy might have continued in order to reach a model democracy for Egyptian people.As Aydinli (2013) indicated that "a transition did not occur overnight and did not always end with similar results.Berman (2017) indicated that the history of European democracy proved that transition took a long time, as the West needed a century and a half to see the result of a long and violent transition.Moreover, revolution is not an easy phenomenon, it absolutely takes time and liberty has a price.Berman (2017:30) stated that "the transition process was usually associated with violence and chaos and the history of democracies had been filled with turmoil, conflict and even violence".Therefore, the democratic transition process is confronted with difficulties and enemies.Establishing democratic institutions takes years.As it takes time, it also needs determination because the deep state and the old institutions will fight back, as they have the largest stake in the old regimes (Sorenson, 2011).
The old regimes naturally resist any demand for change.In the Egyptian case, the ancient regime supporters and the rivalries of the Muslim Brotherhood came together so as to oust Morsi, the first elected president of the transition era.Hamid (2011); Stepan and Linz (2013) underlined that the transition toward democracy was filled with uncertainty.At the same time, it is clearly understood that the transition period can lead to the stability of the democratic future or to the return of the authoritarian regime or to a complete revolution.Egypt carried out a massacre under the army following Sisi's coup against the elected President.This is a counter-revolution rather than a reassertion of the power.The military coup was done in order for the so-called reassertion of democracy and peace in the country.Yet, in the Egyptian case, it caused more problems for which thousands of people died.Severe conflicts between the opponents and the President Morsi supporters caused death and injuries.The first revolution started to protest the bad economic condition of the country and the people tried to change the situation by ousting Mubarak.Yet, Mubarak's ousting was not enough to improve the economic condition.As it was remembered the protestors' slogan was "bread, freedom and social justice.Therefore, it is a must to improve the economic condition so as to move toward democracy.A society in a country will have more democracy if it has more prosperity.Therefore, when the MENA region investigated their economic and social problems, it did not let them deal with democracy in the country.

Why did Egypt's transition to democracy fail?
The causes of the Arab spring may be hidden inside the other and the causes are connected to each other in such a way that one can be the cause of the other.Every transition has its own peculiarities and each of them may be terminated differently; therefore, there is no guarantee for the success of the transition as there are many criteria that affect the course of the transition.There are two crucial factors in the study of the transition to democracy.The first is political institutions which deal with the regime while the other one is the political culture that refers to the political elite and the people, the society and its values.Guenaien (2014:14) took the notice on the existence of middle class for successful transition and stated; The middle class is a necessary condition for a democratic culture to emerge because it will push for changes.The middle class is the only class that is able to change a regime's behavior and achieve its political goals by pursuing democratic behavior that encourages peaceful conflict resolution and avoids violence.The lower class is generally only focused on economic interests and is rarely involved in politics.On the other hand, the upper class is always interested in maintaining its status quo, since any political change could jeopardize its wealth and political status.
In the Egyptian case, there are two apparent classes.The first one is with a limited number upper class, the elites.The other one is lower class whom is under poverty threshold.Therefore, the members of lower-class deal with finding enough nutrition for their health.Actually, Rivlin (2011:3) stated the fact as "most Egyptians were more concerned about worsening economic conditions than they were about the political situation.Their primary concerns were; rapidly rising prices, unemployment, lack of security in the streets, low wages and poverty".The transition was somehow successful and the Egyptian people removed Mubarak with the consent of the military.After Mubarak, there was a long period of time for a free election and new figures.Tessler (2002:338) insisted that "as soon as the uprisings successfully removed the old regime and brought about a new one, then it was the responsibility of the political culture to build new institutions that support the establishment of democracy".In their society, the people of Egypt really desired to have democracy in their country as a governing system respecting the rule of law, freedom of speech and equality, yet they might have a model in mind different from EU and USA.
The main problems of the Middle East people, especially in Egypt, were the ethnic fundamentalist pressures from the western countries and the sectarian problems which are adhered to the people of the region.Yet, the resident people in the region are struggling with the main problems of democracy, liberty and freedom in terms of fair distribution of rights, balanced income distribution, irregularity, unemployment, hunger, social justice and freedom of expression.In the governance of the state, the formation of the general administrative structure was in the hands of certain families/groups and the continued enrichment of these families has led to a gradual increase in the space between the rich and the poor.The formation of these causes was the basic stone in the uprising of the people.Due to the fact that the region has a very wide historical background, it has many different cultures.Actually, the transition to democracy in Egypt was not so easy, as it has stayed under the centralized authoritarian regime.It covered all authorities within the state.The undemocratic ruling party got all the power and dominated all parts of the political, social and economic aspect of life.Hanefi (2011:87) stated about the failure of the transition as; The Egyptian state apparatus has great influence so that the executive power dominates the legislative and judicial powers, which are considered as a necessary supervisory authority for each democratic experience.Thus, the presence of dominance of the executive power, directly affects the performance of the other two powers and their role in supervisory level.The other reason is that one of the obstacles of democratic transformation in Egypt is also the quality of Egyptian political elite.Political elite at the Mubarak's time was followed by him and represent an integral part of the dominant political system at that time.In fact, this elite during its political practices, has confirmed that it does not do anything about democracy, whether in its opinion or practice.
Democracy is a kind of phenomena which comes to existence when unique and original circumstances are formed in a certain period of time.Therefore, it does not occur automatically or with the demand of actors or people.Therefore, the existence of Dalh's criteria in a country is so important.Unfortunately, these criteria are not well applied in Egypt because of the military, economic and social obstacles along with their past legacy which was full of authoritarian regimes.

Methodology
This study was carried out using a document analysis method.As this study focused on the secondary source of data deduced from books and academic journals it needed clarification on the effects of domestic factors of the failure of democratic transition.Document analysis is a systematic procedure for reviewing or evaluating documents; therefore, analysis requires that data be examined and interpreted in order to elicit meaning, gain understanding, and develop empirical knowledge (Corbin&Strauss, 2008).This method is helpful and beneficial for collecting data that show the values, perspectives, experiences and world views of the target population under this study.This method focuses on structural and social conditions.Therefore, this research focused on the domestic factors that caused the failure of the democratic transition in Egypt.The domestic factors, which affected the transition period, were social, economic and political issues.Therefore, there was a transition from agrarian-oriented, feudal and traditional societies to capitalist, industrialized, rationalized and organized in the framework of nation level.Democracy is the result of changing society from the radical ideas and poverty to increasing richness and education.

Social reasons
The people in the MENA region lack some of the fundamental rights, human rights and the human desire for human life.They have a desire to enjoy freedom, justice and equality.Both Muslims and other religions' members want freedom of religion and conscience, respect for religious beliefs; these people have been suppressed by their administration for decades.People are fed up with oppressive and corrupt management of their countries because they have no right to defend themselves.For almost half a century people were governed by autocratic regime by the results of the coup d'état.People have understood that they were beyond the world and the autocratic regimes from the lack of benefit anymore.The social depression was caused by the inability to find jobs for the youth and adults along with rapid population growth.
Uprising, protests, strikes and occupation of buildings are not desired by any regimes and authoritarian regimes do not want any kind of demonstration as it may be a spark for big changes, but they sometimes cannot prevent demonstrations, protests and so on.If the protests become so bigger like in the Arab Spring in 2011 then these protests and uprisings determine the survival of regimes.Haynes (1997) stated that the protests cause authoritarian instability and they shake the power and durability of the regimes; on the other hand, it triggers the authoritarian learning process.Therefore, they emerge as an important variable as it threatens the regime and gains the capacity of collective mobilization.The regime has to find their supporters from a vast amount of loyal citizen and armed security forces so as to continue its endurance against the protests.In the example of the Arab Spring, the regimes in the MENA region had lost its supporters from the citizens and armed forces because of the social, economic and political obstacles which were unsolved for many years.The beginning of the uprising can be defined simply by claiming a general issue; protests occur when citizens are not satisfied with the conditions that they are in.The protestors generally aim at shifting their well-being via trying to transform the political and economic structures.So, they force the government to take action so as to solve the obstacle and increase the welfare of the protestors.If the ruling class is able to achieve to balance these demands, then the survival will continue.
In the Egyptian case, there were some new, creative slogans, artworks, exciting songs and most importantly emotive national symbols.The protestors come together and create a common goal, identity and motivation.When it is investigated, the regime has the power of armed forces that are ready to use in any time, yet the protestors have the advantages of huge numbers, crowds of focused people and the capture of crucial locations.'Friday Demonstrations' after setting off mosques in Egypt was a good example for capturing location and creating an ethical superiority.So, it is so novel that capturing squares and encampments for days or weeks since 2011, as it worked and changed the regimes in the MENA region.The opponents of the Morsi Administration also captured the main squares in order to fall down Morsi.Bayat (2013) described the situation as 'resistance in daily life through squares.Primarily the Tahrir Square and other public spaces were the reflection of an alternative way of life along with confronting authorities.There were incredible crowds of people in the square in 2013 from all kind of walks of society and they were there for the welfare and common good of the society.There were also demonstrators in the square that let the people think they were the real owners of the country.Yet, they were not sure who would take power After Morsi.
The Arab rulers who have been in power for decades have been excommunicated by their people's desire.The desire of human beings is to live humanely, have human rights and have fundamental rights such as freedoms, liberty, justice, a moral society and governmental structure, freedom of belief and conscience with respect for religious beliefs and the development of relations with other states on equal terms along with freedom of expression.People were overwhelmed by the oppressive and corrupt management mentality.There were some social reasons that outstand directly.One of the most important social reasons is "unemployment".In particular, the worsening economies of Arab countries have unemployment rates which do not fall below 10% on average.Therefore, this high unemployment rates caused people to question this situation which then caused protest and revolt.Another social reason is "poverty".As a large majority of people had to live in poverty for many years, they rose up against the regime.The average rate of people under the poverty line was above 20%, which increased the dissatisfaction in the country.
The Egyptian people did not have any mechanisms that they could easily question the bad condition and this poverty so, they revolted against the regime.Another reason is "social injustice".In the Arab countries, as in the historical process, most of the people live in poverty despite the fact that the people in the administration, their families and their immediate surroundings live in luxury.Corruptions, unlawfulness, corruption of public morality, unaccountable works and punishment of innocent people have become part of everyday life while this situation has brought constant criticism of the administrations.These reasons are also the causes of uprisings and also military coup in Egypt.The people were too expectantly waiting a country where there were no such problems.When they ousted Mubarak, they thought that they could overcome every problem in a very short time with the wellness of democracy.Therefore, they had started to road with dreamy hopes.Even Morsi elected in a democratic way, he was not able to solve all the backlogs which came from Mubarak administration.Therefore, these social problems caused another uprising and protests and finally ended with the military coup in 2013.
Another reason is that the Arab people had been deprived of their fundamental rights and freedoms.They have never had the same conditions as the individuals in the Western countries and even the conditions of human living have been deprived of them by their rulers.They forced to live in the context of such social conditions, have started popular movements in the Arab Spring for many other reasons such as unemployment, poverty and social injustice.Kışlakçı (2012) stated that "the spread of bribery and corruption" was another reason for the uprising.People in the region have become unable to deal with day-to-day matters under the laws.Even the simplest officer saw the bribe as part of his monthly income.Bribery, appeal, irregularity had become the law itself; this distorted structure which became one of the causes of protest that had begun to be valid in every field that enters the state.This bad condition was not able to be corrected after the Arab Spring too in the era of Morsi Presidency.With the head of Tamarod movement, the opposing groups came together in June 2013 and started to protests Morsi Administration so as to find solution to social problems of the country.Yet, they were not able to find satisfactory answers from Morsi.Therefore, the opposing wing wanted to get rid of Morsi and reelection for the presidency.
There were many civil society organizations in Egypt before and after the Arab uprising despite the emergency law which let endless underpinning of some democratic freedoms written in the Egyptian Constitution: The authorities in Egypt have used a series of alternative methods to control the activities of such organizations.These include the selective repression of opposition groups; the adoption of strict regulations which effectively allow the government to prohibit the founding of new organizations; the transfer of public funds only to those organizations which follow government directives; and the systematic restriction of the freedom of assembly and the right to hold public gatherings (Paciello 2011:7).
The NGOs' activities were under control so as not to raise any big demonstration or effect on the people.In this way, the regime ensured itself for the criticism.Evaluations in the case of the historical reasons of the failed transition to democracy in Egypt and the determinations are as follows.The states located in the MENA region were founded with the plans of European powers when the Ottoman sovereignty and the World War I concluded.Therefore, the national independence of the states was not gained by the wars, but the blessing of the West within secret agreements which served the West interest.After all; although the demands of the people vary from country to country, it is understood that the common causes that are related to each other above mentioned social reasons.The demand for the changes came from the middle and lower class, not the elites (Rosiny: 2012).After just one year of Morsi's power similar obstacles continued and the government could not develop constant solution for them, like unemployment.The deepening social unrest and other problems hindered the transition to democracy process.As the people waited fast solution for all these obstacles they wanted to get rid of the Morsi administration as he was not able to solve all the social problems in a very short time.

Political and administrative reasons
Democracy is the best form of ruling that human beings have established so far.The leaders of Egypt were not able to step in the way of liberalization and democratization.The existence of non-democratic regime had created a reaction to the public's inadequacy of individual freedoms, bad, repressive, irregular and corrupt governments.In the elections held in Egypt during Hosni Mubarak's ruling, the rate of participation in the elections was very low, but he was elected by getting the votes of almost all of the participants.
The globalization process weakened the current dominance of authoritarian governments during the 2000s.The Arab societies begun to question their rulers with the globalization of their understanding that their respect for civil liberties is the source of legitimacy, spreading from the western world to the whole world.The administrators of the Arab States insisted on establishing absolute sovereignty over society, rather than producing a suitable strategy in their own geography.The rights and freedoms of individuals were restricted in the interests of the government and the demands for freedom were pushed to the next plan.The authoritarian leaders struggle to stay in power for the life.Aydın (2014) indicated that while the leaders were leaving their power, they started to ignore the wishes of the people and started to transfer power to the son of the ruling father.These events caused the public's reaction.The Middle East is a cluster of countries that The best the governance model has ever built up for humanity is the democracy, but the leaders of the Arab countries did not take a step towards democratization from being an endeavor for these events to take place today.Kışlakçı (2012) indicated that the absence of democracy and justice, the absence of transparency and reliability in Egypt and the decision of the president to decide who could be a candidate or not in the election process were the main reasons of the Arab Spring and also failed transition to democracy.The leaders of Egypt had the absence of institutional relations of the Arab countries with the West.This causes many problems; the people believed that if their leaders changed their investment or incomes from the west, it would directly decrease.When it is checked the governance system it is seen that the state is like managing a family business.Therefore, there is a crucial deep wound in the governance system and ordinary people cannot reach the top of the governance system no matter how s/he clever or successful.Therefore, Egypt seemed to be governed by authoritarian regime.Rezaei (2015:218) stated that: The country is at a very critical point between despotism and democratization which is battling it out.At this critical point, the country can easily slip back into authoritarianism.Moreover, regarding Egypt's fragile political state, Egypt's political history can further exacerbate this slip back into authoritarianism, which is not in favor of successful democratization.Egypt's political history poses the greatest impediment to Egypt pursuing a democratic form of governance on account of its numerous cycles of authoritarian rule.
The nonfunctional parliamentary practices, the lack the true will of the people, the lack of proportional representation of minorities and the Shiite show that they do not want to go to ballot box so far.Owing to these negative factors, every segment or every society cannot have a say in the administration.It has caused political crises because the leaders have taken their political legitimacy internationally and not from their own support groups.In Mubarak's administration period, the opponents were imprisoned, civil liberties were arbitrarily exploited and freedom was constrained to maximum limits.There was really a governance problem in the country.
Political institutions are regarded as the most durable ingredient of opportunity structures.These political institutions work in a way that various groups within a society cannot challenge the ruling coalition.The causes and the results of protest and political opposition need a qualified analysis for the state.The effectiveness and well structural features of a state determine the survival of the regime.Therefore, if the government renovates itself according to the society and modern needs then the government increases its capacity to survive and stay long.Ambrosio (2014:484) pointed out that "having inclusive institutions in place to respond to the needs and interests of societal forces creates a more stable foundation for any regime's continued rule something just as true in autocracies as it is in a democrat".Gordner (2013:36) stated that: There is no set path from authoritarian rule to democratic governance.It is neither an expected outcome nor a straight line.Uprisings, rebellions, revolts and revolutions bring, by and large, a great amount of uncertainty and instability.Historically, democracy is in fact the exception.The majority of acts of contentious politics fail to bring immediate policy, let alone regime, change and most that do not peter out or meet brutal repression amount in the end to some shade of grey in between, on the one hand, the over-determined category of liberal democratic and, on the other, the many varieties of authoritarian, governance.For onlookers of democratic politics, rather than assuming a trajectory in which democracy (by which too many onlookers assume Western liberal democracy) prevails, it is prudent to heed the contested nature of this concept and note that among populations that are deeply divided on the separation of religion and state, if some form of democracy does arise once the dust settles it will by virtue of the democratic process likely take place in between polarizing categories-those "secular" and "Islamist" conceptions.
Every actor in Egypt needs to have consensus on transition to democracy otherwise as Yumitro and Estriani (2017:181) concluded that "the success of Egypt's democratization in post-Arab Spring Egypt is an illusion as long as the country's current ruling elites, military forces, judiciary and Mubarak remnants insist on maintaining their longstanding authoritarian tendencies in domestic affairs.The reluctance of these actors to move the country towards democratic governance has left all the Egyptians' efforts and struggles in establishing and preserving democracy in vain".Therefore, the political actors and the army should believe democracy is going to prosper Egyptian society.The elites and the remnants of the ancient regime had better prefer democracy to their interest.
The widespread corruption and bribery in the bureaucracy is the fact that the people have a desire for a moral government.The administration is based on misguided practices such as populism, nepotism, favoritism and also they take their foreign support to govern their country without many difficulties.They have applied tight and swift security intelligence practices in the name of protecting the regimes and powers of the governments; therefore, they were very repressive, suppressive and prohibitive in their managerial methods.Mubarak made preparation to the delegate their power to their sons at the end of the long-ruling process.People understood that such a change, that's to say, the delegation of power from father to son had made it impossible for the ordinary people to have a management right or give a word or representation.The people in Egypt were normally poor people and they needed food and bread all the time while the administrations and their families had brilliant and luxurious lifestyles.
The administration in the region was based on wrong practices such as populism, nepotism, patronage and favoritism.They received foreign support and to governed the country accordingly.There were oppressive, insidious and prohibitive administrative insights, strict and overwhelming security-intelligence practices in the name of protecting the regimes and powers of the rulers.Mubarak's government intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, had arrested people suspected of being a Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood members or people in opposition to the regime in which he was torturing these people who were constantly being monitored by political policemen.Additionally, after the coup, Al Sisi regime was not willing to foster democracy in Egypt, as the transition to democracy might happen and consolidate then their ultimate regime and economic benefits would terminate.

Economic reasons
The unprepared capture of the economic crisis in Egypt in the first decade of the second millennium in this process caused the sale of bread in Egypt to the public to be more expensive while subsidies were reduced.Therefore, these people were directly affected and damaged by the world economic crisis.However, the incomes of the countries in this region have not been invested to help the citizens' interest and their future of the country.Most of the countries in the region lack of the powerful industrialization, development centers, health services.Food inflation, unemployment, poverty, bad living conditions and wasted and stolen public resources were not able to be returned into the people.The absence of national economic policies of Arab countries made them obey other nation's policies.Corruption, favoritism and inequality, which are too common in the MENA region behind the uprising in the countries, are also valid for Egypt.The chronic and increasingly worsening of unemployment in the countries of this region, created poverty that is due to the discrimination in the economic and political administration by corruption with the economic, social and political pressures of authoritarian regimes.In addition to the political effects of the Arab Spring, the distribution of incomes, the proportion of underemployment was due to economies based on the state sector rather than the private sector; unemployment, overpowering of the defense spending and fluctuations in oil prices can show the reasons for the Arab spring.When countries are to be examined economically, economic growth is among the main divisions.
Economic growth is also referred to as an increase in the real GDP of an individual country over a period of one year.We need to be able to examine the sectorial structure as well as the GDP growth rate so as to be able to measure the economic activity volume of the countries along with the level of social welfare.In the countries where Arab Spring was experienced, the contribution of the agricultural sector in GDP was seen as 11%.Aydın (2015) stated that "in developed countries, the share of agriculture was 5%, the share of industry 20% and the share of service 70%.In underdeveloped economies, however, the share of agriculture was above 20%, while the share of services is below 50%".In other words, when the strengthening of national economies was seen, the share of agriculture within the GNP was relatively decreasing.The share of agriculture in the Arab countries is very large in these economies.For this reason, it is possible to say that the Arab Spring countries are agricultural societies.Especially it seems to be more prominent in terms of Egypt and Syria.Taking into account the dependence of the large population on the agricultural sector, this leads to poverty and an unbalanced economic situation in the distribution of income.The sectorial situation of the economy determines the level of social prosperity and the welfare of the people.
Egypt was caught unprepared for the 2008 economic crises, parallel to the increase in basic food prices around the world.This increase also took place in Egypt and in this process; the bread in Egypt was being sold for more while the subsidies were being reduced.Because in Egypt one person's daily receipt was around one dollar and sixty percent of the Egyptian families had to eat subsidized bread.As a matter of fact, the President Morsi, who was aware that one of the causes for the revolt in Egypt was the bread problem, promised before the elections that after he came to work, he would solve the problem of bread, fuel, daily life including security, traffic and health within 100 days.These promises had raised expectations, yet there was no visible improvement within 100 days which was disappointing.The fact that most private sectors were under the control of the military had been one of the reasons for the hindered promises.It is worth mentioning that the attitude of the Egyptian army is largely pragmatist in its approaches to consoling his position within the country rather than the ideological approach.Another economic reason was that the revenues of the countries are not invested for the benefits of the citizens of the country.Moreover, the income of the countries was not used for industrialization, development, health investments, to which the Arab countries had no stable economic systems.In Egypt's business world, trade and politics are intertwined.They both grow and feed each other.In the meantime, the ordinary people (citizens) were ignored by the rich.
Laws were issued for businessmen from time to time so that the money earned is offered to the service of politicians.The anger that accumulated with the shrinking of business areas and the spread of unemployment became even bigger when combined with the anxiety of the future.
Although the people lived in misery, this community had benefited from the blessings of power lives in luxury and abundance.Even when the official works of the state were being made, illegitimate ways could be used.A kind of decay and degeneration was spread through all of the social layers.The number of people who had ever been involved in daily affairs without going out of law decreased very much day by day.Bribing more or less had become a necessity.All corruption had always been the most important part of the relationship with the citizen.The only way to gain people's support and respect was to give wealth and goods no matter what the way, so there was no importance of university diploma and talent.
The diminishing of the middle class, who was regarded as a sign of socio-economic equilibrium, also marked the collapse of society.In Egypt, it was not surprising that one person from almost every family had a prison experience and that people had constant anxiety of being taken into custody.Unlawfulness, corruption of public morality, inability to account and punishmentfree of criminals had become part of everyday life.Paciello (2011:3) informed that "Egypt has pursued a series of market-oriented reforms with the objective of limiting the state's intervention in the economy, promoting private sector growth and integrating their economies into the world market since 1991 to nowadays".Because of the repression of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the Egyptian economy had made the living standards of the people even more inferior.Taxes had increased, public spending had been reduced and employment had been narrowed.The structural harmonization policies of the unqualified economic packages undermined the local economy and at the same time created long-term unemployment.With the withdrawal of the social state; the living conditions were getting worse year by year.Egypt had triggered protests because the Egyptian regime could not keep up with the changes in the world.
The Egyptian people had desire to change after they saw the freedom of western people via the social media tools that then had become the driving force behind the uprising.The oppressive Egyptian regimes closed their eyes to the changing after the Cold War and decided that they did not need any comprehensive reforms on the political system which could enable welfare and equality in the economy.Information, communication and the new media revolution were among the factors that influenced political fear and since breaking the silence of the Arab public.The people in Egypt had not tasted democracy and never benefited from the blessings of pluralism and freedom.Harvey (2012) emphasizes that the life of the poor depends on the cotton thread that is already targeted by the victim's field with vulture tactics which also make life more difficult.Therefore, the poor and oppressed people poured into the street in order to find more bread, freedom and dignity.On the other hand, some people may argue that the people of these streets were neither economically nor politically a project, so them being directed was nothing more than working for those dictators or the western account.The lack of economic development challenged and extended the transition to democracy.Yet, it was not necessarily the reason of failure itself.The theory of modernization focuses on structural and social conditions.So, the relations between socioeconomic development and democracy are correlated with each other.If a country is economically poor then it is difficult to transition to democracy, there when compared with the rich country.Lipset (1959:75) focused on this fact that "the more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it would sustain democracy".Egypt had to supply adequate economic and social services to its citizens so as to change their perception of the legitimate regime.As a fact, the number of the lower class in Egypt is so high that they often force their economic interest and they do not deal with politics.Moreover, the upper class is too low in Egypt; these class members take care of maintaining their status quo as any change in the regime may endanger their interests and political situation.This elite class got used to being a Member of Parliament in the framework of Mubarak's party.They could easily solve bureaucratic obstacles by wielding their influence.Yet, as Lipset (1959:82) asserted that "the middle class was a necessary tool for a democratic culture to emerge because it would push for changes.The middle class is the only class that can change the behavior of a regime and then achieves its political aims by chasing a democratic form that encourages peaceful conflict resolution and prevents violence".Przeworski et al (2000) indicated that it was difficult to return to a non-democratic regime when a country reaches a certain level of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
The countries on the process of transition to democracy are missing some economic development and do not have the threshold GDP.They would face great risks to return to authoritarian regimes like in the Egyptian case.On the other hand, as Boix and Stokes (2003) discussed that economic growth alone was not adequate for the transition to democracy.Yet, income equality emergent from economic growth was a must for democratic transition.There are some countries in the Gulf region that have high economic growth, but this reflects on the citizens of the country although very limited elites take most of the income of the country.Egypt was exposed to social unrest, lack of political instability and security during Morsi era.Yet, these obstacles came from the Mubarak era.These economic and social problems both caused the Arab Spring in Egypt and as they continued during Morsi period which made way for the failure of the transition to democracy in Egypt.As Mozes (2014:72) emphasized that "the deep state interfered with sabotaging the MB to restore public order, enraging Egyptians against President Morsi's government.It stirred social unrest through manipulation through a variety of resources that many of Mubarak's government remnants still controlled like energy and the security sectors.Electricity blackouts and fuel shortages caused many protestors to turn against the MB".These both caused economic problems for the people and also made the Egyptian government weak in the state structure.

Discussion and conclusion
The domestic factors in a country have always had significant roles for their interests in the world.They may lead to positive or negative atmosphere of a country.These factors such as social, economic, political and military can change everything in a country.The domestic institutions object to democratic reforms if they perceive that their primary institutional interests are threatened by reforms implemented by officials during the transition period.In the rule of Morsi, which was a critical process in the democratic transition in Egypt, the military continued to receive foreign military aid, focusing on the major trends of the military budget in the institutional economic interests of the Egyptian army, the concessions of military property enterprises.The defenders of institutional order especially the military supported the old system remnants in order to block the democratic transition.The internal dynamics in Egypt had taken action, with concessions for military property initiatives beginning to decline and the army's willingness to prevent democratic reforms.During this period, the former pro-government supporters in the country used the media to lead to the economic downturn and the failure of Morsi to make the reforms and improvements promised, resulting in a coup in the democratic transition.
The old institutional order defenders were not side with the improvement of democracy in Egypt as their own profits might not be fulfilled by the democratically elected president.Moreover, the secular opposition, whose expectations from the elections weakened, had gradually started to support the "old regime" institutions.As aspect of social issues, the rule of Morsi was not able to find absolute and concrete solutions to the social depression was caused by the inability to find jobs for the youth and adults along with rapid population growth.Therefore, the youth groups turned to back to other aspect with the hope to find jobs and bread.All in all, the economic, social, political, administrative and especially military issues caused the failure of democratic transition in Egypt.
As a result, the domestic factors such as social, economic, political and military items deeply affected the way transition to democracy in Egypt.Unfortunately, they have caused failure of the transition with the support of global actors which dealt with the MENA region.Under these circumstances, it seems a bit difficult to turn back democratic values in the near future under the rule of the military origin leader in Egypt.Yet, the failure of transition to democracy may be amendable in long-lasting with the development of the region and the world.The totalistic leaders are not able to stand on this changing and improving world.