The lessons of the "day after" in Egypt, amidst the ongoing confrontation of the squares and the battle of the slogans, are many.

First, the crisis is defined by some as one between constitutional legitimacy and popular/revolutionary legitimacy. The Morsi supporters argue that he is the first president who came to power via the ballot. Dislodging him therefore amounts to a coup d’etat, regardless of how it is done. Nevertheless, the situation is not as simple as that. A newborn regime, emanating out of a revolution, needs to forge a large consensus on the founding elements and general principles of the new constitution, the basic law of the nation.

The latter should be a constitution based on acknowledging and respecting differences, the rights of minorities — be it political or religious — and on establishing in practice the rule of law. It must not be, as the Muslim Brotherhood is accused, of governing and shaping key choices from behind the scenes, through their Bureau of Guidance, a structure not accountable to the public. The Muslim Brotherhood’s government invokes the sacred to assume moral superiority every time there is a disagreement with its policies or agenda.

Such a situation leads to the emergence of the dictatorship of the majority, even if only a very thin one. Democracy is not only ballots. It is a nationally shared system of political values, patterns of conduct and accountability.