The National Democratic Party (Arabic: الحزب الوطني الديمقراطي, romanized: El-Ḥizb el-Waṭanī ed-Dīmuqrāṭī), often referred to in Egypt as simply the National Party (Arabic: الحزب الوطني, romanized: El-Ḥizb el-Waṭanī), was the ruling political party in Egypt from 1978 to 2011. It was founded by President Anwar Sadat in 1978. The NDP wielded uncontested power in state politics, usually considered a de facto single party, with authoritarian characteristics, 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.

The National Democratic Party was an authoritarian centrist party. From its inception, it was by far the most powerful of the parties to emerge from the Arab Socialist Union (ASU), the former ruling sole party since 1962, and was as such seen as its organic successor. In contrast to ASU's strong emphasis on Arab nationalism and Arab socialism (Nasserism), the NDP developed into a moderate centrist party. The NDP was a member of the Socialist International from 1989 until it was expelled in 2011 in response to the revolution. The party was dissolved on 16 April 2011 by court order, and its assets were transferred to the state.

The electoral system in Egypt, under which the National Democratic Party operated, did not meet internationally recognized standards of electoral democracies. According to the Freedom House, the political system was designed to ensure solid majorities for the ruling NDP at all levels of government. 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. Although former President Hosni Mubarak himself boasted shortly before his deposition from power that Egypt enjoys "all kinds of democracy," substantive democracy and civil liberties within the country remained elusive. 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."

In 2010, Freedom House ranked Egypt's Political Rights Score 6 and Civil Liberties Score 5, with 1 being the freest and 7 being the least free.

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. Generally, emergency law provides the government with the authority to control every level of political activity, including that within the confines of the formally defined political arena. The duration of the law is three years, but was routinely renewed. The trend began when President Gamel Abdel Nasser succeeded in establishing a state of emergency in 1956, following the invasion of Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel, and continued until 1963 on the basis of the continuing threat of an offensive against Egypt. Nasser declared another state of emergency in June 1967 because of the Six-Day War, which lasted through the War of Attrition, the October War, and the later years of Anwar El-Sadat's presidency, which were characterized by significant political, economic, and social upheaval and discontent. In total, the state of emergency declared during the 1967 war lasted for 13 years. 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.

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." In practice, however, the law was used to not only control and contain terrorism, but to limit legitimate oppositional political activities. For example, campaign gatherings require prior permission from the Ministry of Interior under the emergency law. 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. The application is then sent to the Ministry of Interior for consideration, and can be rejected.

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, that it chose not to do so cannot be attributed to the unanimous approval of presidential policies. In actuality, the People's Assembly was restricted to the role of rubber-stamping presidential authority because it is confined by presidential powers beyond its control. Under Article 152 of the 1971 Constitution, the president was able to have his proposals bypass the People's Assembly and have them endorsed directly through a referendum. Consequently, it is impossible for the Assembly to consider or reject the policy once approved in this manner.

The President of Egypt, however, rarely needed to resort to referendums except in circumstances where it is a formal requirement, such as initiating constitutional changes. Article 152 was seldom used because there was no reason to do so. The majority of legislation passed through the People's Assembly was initiated by the President, and almost all of the President's proposals were passed by the mandated two-thirds' majority with little to no deliberation at all.