[5] The NDP wielded uncontested power in state politics, usually considered a de facto single party, with authoritarian characteristics,[6][7][8][9] inside an officially multi-party system, from its creation until the resignation of Sadat's successor Hosni Mubarak in response to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.

[11][12][13][14] According to the Freedom House, the political system was designed to ensure solid majorities for the ruling NDP at all levels of government.

[14] In 2009, Dr. Ali El Deen Hilal Dessouki, Media Secretary of the NDP, described Egypt as a "pharaonic" political system, and democracy as a long-term goal.

In the 2000s, it was stated that "The truth of the matter is that participation and pluralism are now at lower levels than at any time since Mubarak assumed the presidency in the wake of Anwar Sadat's assassination.

[14] Until Mubarak's deposition, Egypt had operated under a "state of emergency" for all but five months since 1967, allowing the president to outlaw demonstrations, hold detainees indefinitely without trial, and issue law by decree.

[16][17][18] After Sadat's assassination on 6 October 1981, his Vice-President and successor, Hosni Mubarak, declared another state of emergency, which he kept in place for the entire duration of his three decades in office.

[18][19] President Mubarak argued in his Presidential Public Address in 1998 that the emergency law is required "in order to confront terrorism [and] protect democracy and stability.

Thus, when a candidate plans to hold a public meeting, he must submit an application to the local police station stating details such as the date, location, and estimated size of the gathering.

[20] The People's Assembly, which is usually characterized as the lower house of Egypt's quasi-bicameral legislature, is constitutionally empowered to question and even challenge presidential authority.

However, regimes that adopt these (electoral) systems, called competitive authoritarianism or illiberal democracy, "tend to impose a number of constraining conditions in order to ensure that the arena of the political contest remains under their stringent control.

The laws regulating the licensing of opposition parties, for example, always demand a public commitment to the existing political order and the substantive acts of the regime.

Landowners and Pasha... used this kind of democracy as an easy tool for the benefit of a feudal system... the peasants would cast their votes according to the instructions of their masters...

"[27] Liberation Rally was dissolved in 1956 and reorganized as the National Union party to accommodate President Nasser's growing pan-Arab rhetoric.

The National Union party was designed and used by Nasser to include and co-opt Syrian political actors into the Egyptian state apparatus.

[30] Therefore, the single party in Egypt was never conceived of as being an active institution with decision-making powers; rather, it was considered a civic association to mobilize the people.

[32] In the October Paper, Sadat reaffirmed his commitment to establishing a constitutional democratic government, preserving Egypt's socialist character, and rejecting the "theory of the single party" and acknowledged calls for a multi-party system.

[32] The October Paper also announced Egypt's new economic policy as combining Arab capital, Western technology, and the state's abundant resources in an effort to transform the Egyptian economy.

He then disbanded the ASU entirely in 1977 and endowed these bodies the official status of political parties in preparation for upcoming parliamentary elections.

Dr. Maye Kassem of the American University in Cairo summarizes the transition from the ASU to the NDP thusly: This move was undoubtedly related to the fact that the President's party would ensure for its members' direct access to state resources.

Put differently, the mass conversion from "socialist" to "democratic" ideology implied not only the desire to remain under direct presidential patronage but also that the emergence of the ruling NDP was no more reflective of constituency interests than the ASU was under Nasser's party system.

[33] Law 40 empowered a committee chaired by the NDP – the speaker of the Shura Council – to suspend other parties' activities "in the national interest.

[36] After President Sadat's assassination in 1981, his successor Hosni Mubarak continued to request and obtain the People Assembly's approval to maintain the emergency law under the premise of threats of terrorism and violence.

Unfortunately, the combination of increasing Islamist opposition groups and violence by extremist organizations during the 1990s spurred legislation that hurt all Egyptians' ability to express themselves politically via formal institutions or more informal means.

[40] He proposed overhauling the NDP in an effort to make it look and function more like a modern political party rather than a tool for recruiting support for the regime in exchange for government patronage.

One analyst wrote that the real story of the 19–21 September NDP conference of 2006 was not the carefully packaged briefings offered by party members but "Gamal Mubarak's increasing political weight and seemingly unstoppable ascent towards the presidency.

[18] The Muslim Brotherhood was officially banned in Egypt but continued to run brotherhood-affiliated candidates as independents in local and parliamentary elections since 1984.

The National Democratic Party of Egypt secured 420 of the 508 seats in the country's December 2010 elections for the lower house of parliament, the Majlis al-Shaab.

[44][45] Major protests erupted against the ruling government of Egypt on 25 January 2011 (alongside the wider Arab Spring), at the time dubbed the Day of Rage, led largely by the country's youth through social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

[50] On 11 February, facing ever-increasing public opposition and strong hints of serious disquiet within the Egyptian military, Hosni Mubarak resigned as President of Egypt.

[55] The ruling barring former NDP members from taking part in elections was overturned by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters on 14 July 2014.