Islam and Democracy

Democracy is often characterized as a method of giving all citizens in a nation-state a share in political decisionmaking (Warburton, 1998). However, the word "democracy" is used in a number of different ways. Direct democracies are distinguished from representative democracies in that the latter reflect governance systems in which voters select their favored representatives. Democracy is also manifested by different types of representative systems, with degrees of participation integral to the determination of the nature of the democracy (Warburton, 1998).

At issue herein is the question of the extent to which democracy and Islam are mutually exclusive or potentially supportive of not another. Manus Midlarsky (1998) pointed out that the relationship between democracy and Islam has taken center stage in international debate. Both democracy and Islam, particularly in its militant form, have experienced an international resurgence and a renewed vitality. Determining the degree to which Islam as a religious belief system that has directly shaped social, political, and cultural relations in many nation-states, are compatible, is the focus of this report. It will be argued herein that as a religion, Islam is not necessarily antithetical to democracy, but Islam posits a distinct Islamic notion of democracy and social relations that does not directly coincide with similar definitions and relationships in non-Islamic countries.

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ting economic and social conditions affect the local political process? Fuller (2002) believes that the liberal evolution of political Islal faces a number of formidable obstacles. In many regimes, Islamists are routinely suppressed, jailed, tortured, and even executed. The three Islamist state models evolved thus far -- Iran, Sudan, and the Taliban's Afghanistan -- have failed to develop effective and moderate governments. When an Islamist political party comes to office through elections, it is possible that greater liberalism and more democratic institutions will evolve. Midlarsky (1998) points out that the traditional view of the fusion between religion and state in Muslim society emphasizes the sovereignty of God and the role played by the umma in fusing politics and religion. With modernization throughout the Arab countries of the Middle East and in Iran as well, efforts to democratize and modernize in many instances fostered a resurgence of traditionalism, orthodoxy, and conservatism that rejected many of the tenets of the secular democracies of the West. Islam does send contradictory messages on the validity of religious pluralism and the link of pluralism to democratic government. Abu-l-ala-Mawdudi (1982)

Category: Foreign - I