| After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States made democracy promotion a priority in the Middle East. The most notable effort is the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), a program operating on four pillars: political strength, educational opportunity, economic development, and women's empowerment. A critical review of the literature revealed that the United Nations Development Programme conducted surveys relevant to the Greater Middle East Initiative, but not the MEPI specifically. Therefore, based on democracy-promotion theory, which postulates that democracy can be promoted through foreign assistance, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine Egyptian, Egyptian-American, and American perceptions of which pillar would be most effective in helping MEPI achieve its goal of promoting democracy in Egypt. A pilot study employed a convenience sample of 20 participants to test the reliability and validity of a web-based survey instrument created for this study. A test-retest reliability analysis using Pearson's correlation coefficient confirmed instrument reliability. The survey was administered to a convenience sample of 143 participants who reported their perceptions of the MEPI pillars. The data were analyzed using an analysis of variance. Findings from this research revealed that 47% of participants chose the educational opportunity pillar, political strength 28%, economic development 19%, and women's empowerment 6%, leading to the conclusion that educational opportunity was perceived as the most important pillar. The implications for positive social change include the potential for democratic reforms in Egypt, improvement of MEPI's performance, and the promotion of democracy in other Middle Eastern countries. |
