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Religious Regulation and the Muslim Democracy Gap

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2012

Ani Sarkissian
Ani Sarkissian*
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Ani Sarkissian, Michigan State University, Department of Political Science, 368 Farm Lane S303, East Lansing, MI 48824. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article argues that high levels of government regulation of religion help to explain the “democracy gap” in majority Muslim countries. Controlling for previously hypothesized determinants of democracy, it finds that as levels of regulation increase, levels of democracy decline. Examination of specific types of religious regulation in Muslim-majority countries uncovers a pattern of repression of religious expression that may be used to mobilize citizens politically. These regulations are targeted more often at Muslims who seek independence from state-controlled religion or who wish to challenge authoritarian governments, rather than at non-Muslim minorities or at religious worship more generally. Thus, authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes in Muslim-majority states successfully use policies toward religion to restrict political competition and inhibit democratic transition.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , December 2012 , pp. 501 - 527
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2012

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