IREX (International Research Exchange Board): $12,000

Four-month field research in Central Asia (2008)

My dissertation explores the impact of Islamic institutions on democratic transitions in the Muslim world. Voicing my concerns on previous measurements of Islam, I have developed a new measure to assess the variation of Islamic factor across Muslim countries: Islamic Institutionalization Index (III). Utilizing a mixed methodology (quantitative and comparative qualitative), I analyze 49 Muslim-majority countries and find a positive association between Islamic institutionalization and democratization. To further account for the causal complexity, I investigate three cases in greater details: Turkey (Middle East), Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (Central Asia).  Thanks to a generous grant from IREX (International Research Exchange Board) - Individual Advanced Research Program, I was able to do a four-month field research in Central Asia conducting elite-interviews and data-collection which significantly contributed to my dissertation.