ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the 2013 relapse into authoritarianism reflects the dynamics of domination established in Egypt by previous regimes. Egypt's history demonstrates a pattern that emerging dissent was ultimately "conducive to the aim of authoritarian regime survival". The chapter revisits the doomed democratic moment of the Middle East's most populated country and, more specifically, the role played by the newly liberalized media. The media in Egypt has traditionally been distinguished according to the outlet's ownership as state media, partisan media, and independent media. Certain patterns were observed in people's reliance on media for political awareness. The character of media polarization around Morsi reached what Hafez calls radical polarization. The chapter provides the necessary historical and conceptual background. First, the cyclical system of authoritarianism is explained. In this system, oppositional forces and the tensions among them are understood as functional components in authoritarian rule, allowing it to move between moments of liberalization and de-liberalization.
