The Corporatist Threat to the Arab Spring
Tunisia and Egypt face serious hazards as they rely on democratic mechanisms to mitigate the oppressive features of the rightist corporatism under which they suffered. One hazard is leftist corporatism, in which labor unions and cronies replace the ruling families and army officials, but political control of the economy is maintained.
NEW YORK – The young protesters of the Jasmine Revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt, many of them university graduates, overthrew the old regime because it impeded or blocked them from careers that would offer engaging work and the chance for personal growth. The protesters did not demand more creature comforts or better infrastructure; they demanded opportunities to make something of themselves.