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Mark Tessler, “Islam and Democracy in the Middle East: “The Impact of Religious Orientations on Attitudes toward Democracy in Four Arab Countries” Comparative Politics 34 (April 2002): 337-354.
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Discussions about democracy in the Arab world often include attention to the political orientations of ordinary men and women. In particular, questions are raised about whether popular attitudes and beliefs constitute an obstacle to democratization, possibly because the religious traditions that predominate in most Arab countries inhibit the emergence of a democratic political culture. But while questions are frequently raised about the views of ordinary citizens, about what is sometimes described as “the Arab street,” answers are most often based on impressionistic and anecdotal information. Indeed, some analyses appear to be influenced by Western stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims. By contrast, systematic empirical inquiries into the nature, distribution, and determinants of political attitudes in the Arab world are rare. Against this background, the present paper examines the influence of Islam on attitudes toward democracy using public opinion data collected in Palestine (West Bank and Gaza), Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt. In surveys conducted by or in collaboration with Arab scholars, interview schedules containing questions about governance and democracy and also about conceptions and practices relating to Islam were administered to comparatively large and representative samples of adults in all four countries, including two samples in Egypt. These data provide a strong empirical foundation for addressing questions about the relationship between Islam and democracy at the individual level of analysis.
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Muqtedar Khan, “Prospects for Muslim Democracy: The Role of U.S. Policy”, Brookings Project on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World, Fall 2003.
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Democratization is rapidly becoming the U.S. policy of choice to meet the challenge of anti-Americanism and the radicalization of Muslims, especially in the Middle East. Both the government and experts in the American foreign-policy community insist that only democracy can undermine the conditions that engender political radicalism in the Muslim world. According to this view, a quick transition from authoritarianism to more open societies will improve economic opportunities and foster responsible politics by making governments accountable and giving people a sense of participation. In spite of some prominent detractors, the Bush administration has adopted the view that democracy is not only feasible but also necessary in the Middle East and the Muslim world at large.
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Hamza Ates, “Towards a Distinctive Model? Reconciling the Views of Contemporary Muslim Thinkers on an Ideal State for Muslim Societies”, Religion, State & Society, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2003.
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A great volume of popular literature produced by Islamists strives to demonstrate the universal validity of the Islamic political principles and their applicability in any time and place. Although there is an agreement on certain characteristics of a government in a Muslim society, the debate reflects quite varied interpretations and some essential theoretical differences. The controversy stems largely from the conditions that scholars live in.
Regarding the revived interest in creating a state based on Islamic political and moral guidelines, it is possible to encounter various interpretations and different standpoints. For instance, one point of view asserts that 'the undemocratic nature of Islamic political ideology, popularised in the present times by fundamentalist ideologues, commends it to regimes which have no popular support and need to find some measure of legitimacy' (Tibi, 1998). With the failure of man-made ideologies and withdrawal of imperialist western powers, according to another standpoint, the inhabitants of the Third World countries were led to revitalise their own sociopolitical values and institute their own political systems. In the case of the Islamic world, the idea of a state based on Islamic political principles, envisaged in the latter perspective, is 'the rekindling of the typical Islamic political ethos'; in that Islam unifies the spiritual and social realms, it is therefore impossible to divorce politics from religion (Sulaiman, 1987).
There is a wide range of contributions and critiques on the issue of Islamic principles guiding the constitutional aspects of a state, particularly since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The interest in this matter has increased since the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001, coinciding with a rising interest in such issues as Islamic social order and so-called Islamic terrorism. Nevertheless, most of these writings are popular and sensational; analytical studies are few. This article aims to fill the gap in scholarly inquiry into such an important matter by exploring the political ideas of major contemporary Muslim thinkers, and by identifying some essential characteristics for a state based on Islamic political principles in the light of the views of these scholars.
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Ihsan D, Dagi, “Islamic Political Identity in Turkey: Rethinking the West and Westernization”, Open Society Institute/Center for Policy Studies, 2001/2002.
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The project aims to contribute to the debate on the relationship between Islam and the West by focusing on a unique Islamic political movement in Turkey associated with the Pro-Islamic Virtue Party; examine possibilities for the coexistence of Islam and Western institutions as well as democratic/liberal values; study the attitudes of the Islamists in Turkey towards the West and Western values and recent signs of changes in the policies of pro-Islamic political partys concerning the West, westernization, democracy, human rights, globalization and the European Union; write a research monograph on the issue; and develop a policy paper on program strategies in the area of globalization and Islam in coordination with network mentors.
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