Associations representing the special interests of the Egyptian business community have grown in number and variety during the last 15 years. The largest and most powerful of these interest groups are examined here. The persistent diversity of business organizations is explained by the discontinuous historical evolution of the private sector and by the changing political and economic strategies of Egypt's authoritarian regime. Finally, Egyptian business groups are compared briefly with Turkish business associations, which played a key role in the privatization of an economy once dominated by the state sector.
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References
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1. For definitions of “corporatism” and “pluralism,” see Philippe C. Schmitter, “Still the Century of Corporatism?”Review of Politics, 36(1):85-131 (Jan. 1974).
2.
2. See the 10-part series by Abdal-Qadir Shahib, “Haqiqat al-tanmiya al-shabiya” [The reality of popular development], Al-shab, 4 Jan.-15 Mar. 1983.
3.
3. See, for example, the extensive coverage of the private sector in Egyptian Federation of Industries, Al-kitab al-dhahabi lil-Ittihad al-sanaat al-misriya [The golden book of the Egyptian Federation of Industries], (Cairo: Schindler, 1973), pp. 59-93.
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4. Adal al-Mashad, “Al-ghazw al-istithmari lil-niqabat al-mihniya wa al-ummaliya” [The entrepreneurial invasion of professional and labor syndicates], Al-shab, 25 Jan. 1983.
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5. Sharif Hassan Qasim, “Al-qissa al-kamila li intikhabat al-Tijariyin” [The complete story of the Commercial Employees' elections], Al-ahali, 7 Mar. 1984.
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6. Egyptian Businessmen's Association, Al-taqrir al-sanawi wa dalil al-ada lil-Jamiya rijal al-amal al-misriyin [Annual report and membership directory of the Egyptian Businessmen's Association] (Cairo: Dar al-alam al-arabi, 1983).
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7. Mahmud Abdal-Fadil, Taammulat fi al-masala al-iqtisadiya al-misriya [Reflections on the Egyptian economic problem] (Cairo: Dar al-mustaqbal al-arabi, 1983), pp. 115-120.
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9.
9. The minister of economy did indeed resign in April 1985 after all of the business groups mentioned here mounted intense resistance to new trade and banking regulations. “Tadil wizari wasi wa taraju shamil an al-islah al-iqtisadi” [A broad cabinet change and a sweeping retreat from economic reform], Al-ahali, 3 Apr. 1985.
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10. Philippe C. Schmitter, “Modes of Interest Intermediation and Models of Societal Change in Western Europe,”Comparative Political Studies, 10(1):24-26 (Apr. 1977).
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11. André Gunder Frank, Lumpenbourgeoisie: Lumpendevelopment (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971), passim.
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12. Guillermo O'Donnell, Modernization and Bureaucratic-Authoritarianism (Berkeley, CA: Institute of International Studies, 1979), pp. 51-76; and David Collier, ed., The New Authoritarianism in Latin America (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979), pp. 19-32.
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13. Robert Bianchi, Interest Groups and Political Development in Turkey (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. 251-274.
