Hybrid regimes and narrative legitimacy during economic crises: Resiliency narratives of Egypt’s economic crisis

Abstract

This study advances a theory of resiliency narratives to hybrid regimes by proposing a continuum mapping a democratic, hybrid and modern authoritarian narrative structure based on its directionality and informational content during economic crises. Using Egypt’s 2016 economic crisis as a case study, we examine Egyptian and Russian native language media reporting. The results show that Egyptian media provide coherent narratives of economic resiliency devoid of ideological messaging, with attribution of blame placed on domestic causes more than international, providing support to the hybrid regimes’ differentiated narrative structures.