Click here to access posting from Jadaliyya featuring discussions about recent Egyptian political events by Paul Sedra, Robert Springborg, and Joshua Stacher.
This posting provides a very intelligent discussion of what constitutes revolutionary change and the political uses of revolutionary rhetoric in the process of change. Although I think that Sedra fails to realize the dangers of confusing revolutionary rhetoric with real change, he does provide some very interesting insights on the electoral strategies that Egyptian militarists used with guidance from US political figures to contain the revolutionary impetus within the bounds of a coup.
The Empire and its military collaborators all over the world are becoming expert at using the machinery of elections to contain genuine democratic aspirations for change. Ruling class operatives have inculcated the idea in many ordinary people throughout the world that elections equals "democracy". To the extent that they have succeeded, electioneering has become a fetish--all that the One Percent needs to do is hold elections which they have become expert at controlling and many people will be satisfied that the outcome results in a legitimate democratic process. Thus, it is critically important to study and thoroughly understand these strategies and expose them in order to prepare ordinary people for real change rather than allowing them to be endlessly fooled into accepting cosmetic change.