Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T00:45:05.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Islam and Democracy – A Dynamic Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2016

NAIWEI CHEN  and
TSAI-CHEN YANG
NAIWEI CHEN
Affiliation:
Jiangxi Normal University, China906218956@qq.com
TSAI-CHEN YANG
Affiliation:
National Chung Cheng University, Taiwanorangerange915@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between Islam and democracy with emphasis on the issue of whether and how Islam has bearings on democratic adjustment speed. Using comprehensive data on 17 Asian countries from 1996 to 2010, the study demonstrates that religion is a significant factor for determining democracy. Results indicate that the level of democracy in Islamic countries is generally lower than that in non-Islamic countries. However, the level of democracy in Islamic countries exhibits an upward trend, whereas that in non-Islamic countries displays a downward trend. Moreover, when benchmark variables are controlled, democratic adjustment in Islamic countries is faster than in non-Islamic countries. Hence, despite the current lower level of democracy in Islamic countries, the results of this study refute the conventional wisdom that Islam hinders democracy. Instead, Islamic countries are highly malleable and exhibit a potential for faster democratic development compared with non-Islamic countries. Results further suggest that Islamic countries can effectively promote democracy by improving education, minimizing the gender gap, controlling population growth, or becoming an oil exporter similar to non-Islamic countries. However, Islamic countries likely own an additional unique advantage in effectively improving democracy – that is, promoting urbanization. This aspect is in contrast to non-Islamic countries where urbanization plays no role in determining democracy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , September 2016 , pp. 329 - 364
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, John (2004), ‘Does God Matter, and If So Whose God? Religion and Democratization’, Democratization, 11 (4): 192–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartlett, A. A. (2000), ‘Democracy cannot survive overpopulation’, Population and Environment, 22 (1): 63–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barro, Robert J. (1999), ‘Determinants of Democracy’, Journal of Political Economy, 107 (S6): S158–S183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berman, Sheri (2003), ‘Islamism, Revolution, and Civil Society’, Perspective on Politics, 1 (2): 257–72.Google Scholar
Bloom, Pazit Ben-Nun and Arikan, Gizem (2012), ‘A Two-edged Sword: The Differential Effect of Religious Belief and Religious Social Context on Attitudes towards Democracy’, Political behavior, 34 (2): 249–76.Google Scholar
Bloom, Pazit Ben-Nun and Arikan, Gizem (2013), ‘Religion and Support for Democracy: A Cross-national Test of the Mediating Mechanisms’, British Journal of Political Science, 43 (2): 375–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borooah, Vani K. and Paldam, Martin (2007), ‘Why is the World Short of Democracy? A Cross-country Analysis of Barriers to Representative Government’, European Journal of Political Economy, 23 (3): 582–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, Roger W. (1984), Rebellion and Democracy in Meiji Japan: A Study of Commoners in the Popular Rights Movement, Vol. 321, University of California Press.Google Scholar
Buehler, M. (2009), ‘Islam and democracy in Indonesia’, Insight Turkey, 11 (4): 51–63.Google Scholar
Bukay, D. (2007), ‘Can there be an Islamic democracy?’, Middle East Quarterly, 14 (2): 71–79, available at: http://www.meforum.org/1680/can-there-be-an-islamic-democracy Google Scholar
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) (2011), The World Factbook, Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency.Google Scholar
Ciftci, Sabri (2010), ‘Modernization, Islam, or Social Capital: What Explains Attitudes Toward Democracy in the Muslim World?’, Comparative Political Studies, 43 (11): 1442–70.Google Scholar
Clague, Christopher, Gleason, Suzanne, and Knack, Stephen (2001), ‘Determinants of Lasting Democracy in Poor Countries: Culture, Development, and Institutions’, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 573 (1): 16–41.Google Scholar
Croissant, Aurel (2004), ‘From Transition to Defective Democracy: Mapping Asian Democratization’, Democratization, 11 (5): 156–78.Google Scholar
Dalmasso, Emanuela and Cavatorta, Francesco (2013), ‘Democracy, Civil Liberties and the Role of Religion after the Arab Awakening: Constitutional Reforms in Tunisia and Morocco’, and Mediterranean Politics, 18 (2): 225–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dima, B., Leitão, N. C., and Dima, S. (2011), ‘Urbanization and Democracy in the Framework of Modernization Theory: Recent Empirical Evidences’, Actual problems of Economics, 10: 390–8.Google Scholar
Donno, Daniela and Russett, Bruce (2004), ‘Islam, Authoritarianism, and Female Empowerment: What Are the Linkages?’, World Politics, 56 (4): 582–607.Google Scholar
Esposito, John and Dalia, Mogahed (2008), ‘Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think’, New York: Gallup Press.Google Scholar
Farooq, Mohammad Omar (2011), ‘Islam and Democracy: Perceptions and Misperceptions’, available at SSRN 1772541.Google Scholar
Fish, M. Steven (2002), ‘Islam and Authoritarianism’, World Politics, 55 (1): 4–37.Google Scholar
Fradkin, Hillel (2000), ‘Does Democracy Need Religion?’, Journal of Democracy, 11 (1): 87–94.Google Scholar
Glaeser, Edward L., Ponzetto, Giacomo AM, and Shleifer, Andrei (2007), ‘Why does Democracy Need Education?’, Journal of Economic Growth, 12 (2): 77–99.Google Scholar
Haklai, Oded (2009), ‘Authoritarianism and Islamic Movements in the Middle East: Research and Theory Building in the Twenty-first Century’, International Studies Review, 11 (1): 27–45.Google Scholar
Halliday, Fred (1996), ‘Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East’, London: I. B. Tauris.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hashemi, Nader A. (2003), ‘Inching towards Democracy: Religion and Politics in the Muslim World’, Third World Quarterly, 24 (3): 563–78.Google Scholar
Heydemann, Steven and Leenders, Reinoud (2011), ‘Resilient Authoritarianism in the Middle East–Lessons from Syria and Iran and Implications for Democracy Promotion’, Knowledge Program Civil Society in West Asia Policy Paper 2.Google Scholar
Hofmann, Steven Ryan (2004), ‘Islam and Democracy Micro-Level Indications of Compatibility’, Comparative Political Studies, 37 (6): 652–76.Google Scholar
Hood, Steven J. (1998), ‘The Myth of Asian-style Democracy’, Asian Survey, 38: 853–66.Google Scholar
Hu, Shaohua. (1997), ‘Confucianism and Western Democracy’, Journal of Contemporary China, 6 (15): 347–63.Google Scholar
Hunter, Shireen T. (2009), ‘Can Islam and Modernity be Reconciled?’, Insight Turkey 11 (3): 1–12.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. (1991) ‘Democracy's Third Wave’, Journal of Democracy, 2 (2): 12–34.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, Norris, Pippa, and Welzel, Christian (2002), ‘Gender Equality and Democracy’, Comparative Sociology, 1 (3–4): 321–45.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald and Welzel, Christian (2010), ‘Changing Mass Priorities: The Link between Modernization and Democracy’, Perspectives on Politics, 8 (2): 551–67.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, Daniel, Kraay, Aart, and Mastruzzi, Massimo (2011), ‘The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Methodology and Analytical Issues’, Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 3 (2): 220–46.Google Scholar
Kubba, Laith, Muqtedar, Khan, Mahmood, Monshipouri, and Neil, Hicks (2002), ‘Islam and Democracy’, Special Report, United States Institute for Peace, Washington, Available at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/sr93.pdf Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour Martin (1994), ‘The Social Requisites of Democracy Revisited: 1993 Presidential Address’, American Sociological Review, 59: 1–22.Google Scholar
Maseland, Robert and van Hoorn, André (2011), ‘Why Muslims Like Democracy yet Have So Little of It’, Public Choice, 147 (3–4): 481–96.Google Scholar
Minkenberg, Michael (2007), ‘Democracy and Religion: Theoretical and Empirical Observations on the Relationship between Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33 (6): 887–909.Google Scholar
Mogahed, Dalia (2006), ‘Islam and Democracy’, Gallup Muslim Studies Series (New York: Gallup 2006), available at http://www.gallup.com/consulting/worldpoll/26410/Gallup-Center-Muslim-Studies.aspx.Google Scholar
Paul, Gregory S. (2005), ‘Cross-national Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies’, Journal of Religion and Society, 7 (1): 1–17.Google Scholar
Reichley, A. James (1986), ‘Democracy and Religion’, PS: Political Science and Politics, 19 (4): 801–6.Google Scholar
Rustow, Dankwart A. (1970), ‘Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model’, Comparative Politics, 2 (3): 337–63.Google Scholar
Shafiq, M. Najeeb (2010), ‘Do Education and Income Affect Support for Democracy in Muslim Countries? Evidence from the Pew Global Attitudes Project’, Economics of Education Review, 29 (3): 461–9.Google Scholar
Somer, Murat (2007), ‘Moderate Islam and Secularist Opposition in Turkey: Implications for the World, Muslims and Secular Democracy’, Third World Quarterly, 28 (7): 1271–89.Google Scholar
Stein, Ewan (2012), ‘After the Arab Spring: power shift in the Middle East?: revolutionary Egypt: promises and perils’, IDEAS reports - special reports, Kitchen, Nicholas (ed.) SR011. LSE IDEAS, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK, available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/43461/ Google Scholar
Stepan, Alfred C (2000), ‘Religion, Democracy, and the Twin Tolerations’, Journal of Democracy, 11 (4): 37–57.Google Scholar
Stepan, Alfred C. and Robertson, Graeme B. (2003), ‘An “Arab” more than a “Muslim” Democracy Gap’, Journal of Democracy, 14 (3): 30–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, Rodney L. (2014), ‘Review of Confucianism as a World Religion: Contested Histories and Contemporary Realities, by Anna Sun’, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 82 (2): 570–3.Google Scholar
Tessler, Mark (2002), ‘Islam and Democracy in the Middle East: The Impact of Religious Orientations on Attitudes toward Democracy in Four Arab Countries’, Comparative Politics, 34 (3): 337–354.Google Scholar
The Economist (2010), ‘Islamic law and democracy - Sense about sharia’, October 14, 2010 from print edition.Google Scholar
Tocqueville, Alexis de (2000) [1830], Democracy in America, edited by Mansfield, H. and Winthrop, D., Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
US Department of State (2012), ‘International religious freedom report for 2012’, available at: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2012religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper Google Scholar
Verdier, Daniel (1998), ‘Democratic convergence and free trade’, International Studies Quarterly, 42 (1): 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiffen, Brigitte (2004), ‘The Cultural-economic Syndrome: Impediments to Democracy in the Middle East’, Comparative Sociology, 3 (3–4): 353–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wucherpfennig, Julian and Deutsch, Franziska (2009), ‘Modernization and Democracy: Theories and Evidence Revisited’, Living Reviews in Democracy, 1.Google Scholar
Yetiv, Steve A. (1997), ‘Review of Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East, by Fred Halliday’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 29 (3): 435–7.Google Scholar