Political Competition in Revolutionary Situations: Intra-Revolutionary Solidarity, Polarization, and Violence in Egypt

Muhammad Amasha, Yale University

A primary goal of democratic revolutions is to enable free and fair political competition; however, competition in the transitional period can take a form that undermines democratization. The literature on the Egyptian Revolution identifies the split of the revolutionary coalition, conceptualized in different ways, as one factor that enabled the counterrevolution to regain power (Affan 2022; Clarke 2025; Kadivar 2022; Ketchley 2017; Nugent 2020). Taking the Egyptian Revolution as a case study, this article asks why political competition in transitional revolutionary periods devolves into violent polarization.  Based on an original dataset of 11,000+ official statements by different political actors (2000-2025), datasets on violence, interviews, and news and video archives, the article traces how competition between Egyptian civilian political actors devolved into violent clashes, a topic rarely systematically studied in Egypt. Furthermore, I trace how perceptions toward political competitors evolved over time. The article argues that street politics and victimhood narratives played a central role in producing a violent, polarized form of political competition.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 126. Democratic Vulnerability, Diaspora Mobilization, and Advocacy Networks