Islam and Democracy: Why and How Islamic Institutions Matter?

Does Islam hinder or promote democracy? Are Islam and democracy compatible? How will Islam, if at all, shape the future political landscape of Muslim polities? Recent debates on Islam and democracy reveal no inherent contradiction between Islamic teachings and liberal democratic thoughts. Yet the majority of Islamic countries are not free. This complex situation in the Muslim world calls for systematic analyses in search for answers. It is hard to predict the future, but what is certain is that Islam will continue to play a central role in shaping the development of future regimes of the Muslim-majority countries. In this project, I investigate the extent to which emerging Islamic institutions influence democratic transitions in 49 Muslim-majority states. The logic of operationalizing Islam in terms of institutions is nested in the notion that if Islam is to shape the contemporary Muslim politics, then the voice and manifestation of Islam will be in the form of an organized structures that can successfully mobilize its mission, transform interests and ideals into actions in order to reach its specific goals. By looking into three categories of Islamic institutions (educational, political, and financial institutions), I raise one question: “to what extent do Islamic institutions help explain the prospects of democratic transitions in the Muslim world?”  This project has three objectives: (1) to develop a new measure to account for the variance in Islamic factor cross-nationally - Islamic Institutionalization Index (III), (2) to assess the variation of Islam in Muslim world in the context of Islamic institutions, (3) to evaluate the extent to which Islamic institutions help explain democratic transitions in 48 Muslim majority states. Analyzing 48 Muslim states using Fuzzy-Set Comparative Analysis (FS/QCA), I find strong empirical support for a positive association between Islamic institutionalization and democratization.  Findings suggest that Islamic institutions facilitate civil liberties when governments allow Islamic institutionalization with no stern political restrictions. Among three categories of III, Islamic educational and political institutions seem to be necessary, though not sufficient, for advancing democratic transitions in the Islamic world.(1)