On Tuesday, Egyptians officially began life under a mostly democratic constitution, nearly two years after the Tahrir Square revolution. But this remarkable feat for the Middle East was hardly a model in how opposing sides in a democracy should listen to each other. In fact, the US State Department issued a stern warning to President Mohamed Morsi about \u201cthe urgent need to bridge divisions, build trust, and broaden support for the political process.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Many of the steps on the way to the Constitution \u201d\u201c whose bright spot includes regular elections \u201d\u201c ignored the interests of Egypt\u2019s various minorities, from liberal secularists to Coptic Christians. The dominant Muslim Brotherhood, whose party has won three national votes, fell for the notion that the majority should always get what it wants \u201d\u201c a mistake that has been the undoing of many democracies.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocracy requires much more than simple majority rule,\u201d\u009d said a US State Department spokesman, Patrick Ventrell.<\/p>\n