Elections in Authoritarian Regimes

A photo of voters climbing ladders to enter polling stations through windows in Egypt’s 2005 elections. Credit: AP Photo/Amr Nabil

This module offers a chance to consider why elections matter in authoritarian states.

The setting is the 2005 election in Egypt under the authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarek, who had been in power for twenty-four years. The primary source is a photograph that captures opposition voters on ladders gaining access a polling station.  An Egyptian court ruling had given independent judges authority inside polling places, but the regime surrounded many polling stations with police and armed men to intimidate voters. If opposition voters could get inside the building, they believed, it was likely their votes against the Mubarak government would be counted.  In the module, Professor Mona El-Ghobashy provides a deeper context for Egyptian electoral politics to help students explore how managed elections can be high-risk operations for both authoritarian regimes and those who oppose them. The teaching plan is designed to bring out these complexities.  It offers a set of guiding questions to unpack the nuances of the photograph in ways that get at the perils and potential rewards for authoritarian regimes who turn to managed elections for domestic and international legitimacy as well as how a determined opposition like that in Egypt can reveal the force and fraud of nondemocratic rule.  As part of Authoritarianism 101, the module enables teachers to explore the themes of authoritarian practice and challenges to authoritarian regimes by civil society.