Saturday, February 26, 2011
Egypt and Education?
De Tocqueville considered citizens possessing an education to be one of the most important factors when building a democracy. With an education, citizens are less likely to fall to aristocratic principles. According to the CIA World Factbook, only 71.4% of the total population (over the age of 15) are literate. From De Tocqueville's perspective, I would be worried. In the news it has been mentioned that the leaders of the military have been summoned to temporarily handle the country's affairs. Will Egypt be able to form a democracy with a low literacy percentage or will the military elite form an aristocratic government? However, this is the 21st century and times are different, so hopefully Egypt will be able to prove De Tocqueville wrong.
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Sarah, Literacy is a moving target. What counted in the 1830s and what counts now may be quite different. Nonetheless, your point stands. I heard a very interesting radio report in which the speaker (who I never heard identified) suggested that persons from countries more recently become democracies than the USA should be sending advisers to Egypt. Those advisers would have fresh experience with just this sort of challenge. LDL
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