Transformations of the political elite and the concept of citizenship in modern Egyptian constitutions

Document Type : Original Article

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Faculty of Politics and Economics - Beni Suef University

Abstract

The research problem of the study is to explore citizenship as a recently developing concept in Egypt, as a result of the new emergence of the nation-state and the subsequent modernity of its political elite construction. The concept of citizenship as an expression of legal equality in rights and responsibilities did not arise until the 1923 constitution and this did not appear until Egypt attained independence. Therefore, the major question of this study is to what extent is the concept of citizenship enshrined in the modern Egyptian constitutions- beginning with the 1923 constitution to the present amended 2014 constitution- influenced by the characteristics of the governing political elite? Is there a variation in their perceptions of the concept from one regime of governance to another? To what extent was this elite’s interpretation of this concept consistent with global developments in this area? The study concluded that there are significant differences among these political elites from one system to another whether in terms of citizenship and the rights that come with or in terms of the extent to which they keep pace with global developments in the field of citizenship.

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