The consequences of the rentier economic system for Egyptian domestic
politics are disastrous. The allocation of income from rents is directed main-
ly towards the privileged groups that support the political regime in power.
Among these groups are parts of the civil service, especially the higher ranks
of the police and the army, as well as those employed in the rent-generating
sectors, for example export and import, tourism and the petroleum industry.
Domestic taxes, which should be the backbone of the state budget, play a
subordinate role in Egypt. In democratic systems taxation is the basis of
representation rights. As the various rents it receives make the Egyptian
government almost independent of taxation, it is not in need of the people’s
consent, and democracy becomes unnecessary. Besides, the state monopoly
in the acquisition of international rents has consolidated the pre-existing
centralistic and bureaucratic state structure. The state monopoly on rent al-
location has also strengthened the paternalistic, patriarchal and authoritarian
behaviour of the government towards its people.