Islam & Democracy

Islamic Civilization’s Compatibility with Democratic

Governance

“Submission”

• Bernard Lewis• Islam = weak civil societies • 12th century Ghazali: “The tyranny of a sultan for

a hundred years causes less damage than one

year’s tyranny exerted by the subjects against each

other”

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

• Iran’s Islamic Revolution

• Islamic ideal • Sacred over Secular• Ignores differences

between Shi’a & Sunni (not to mention Sufi & other) versions of Islam

The Standard Revised Version

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

• Samuel P. Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations

• Islam as Civilization• Humiliation & Resistance • Islam as holistic guide to life

Islam as Civilization Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

Civilization as Irrelevant

• Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History

• Liberalism is a rational & universal truth

• G. W. F. Hegel’s “struggle for recognition”

“Liberal democracy replaces the irrational desire to be recognized as greater than others with a rational desire to be recognized as equal.”

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

The Importance of Civil Society

• Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy Work

• Social capital• Robert Hefner applies this to

Islamic societies• Ulama as fluid and fractious• Democracy needs Islamic

justification for legitimacy

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

The Islamic Republic of

Iran

Constitutional Monarchy

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

• Qajars 1794-1925• Constitutional Revolution

1905-9 – Belgian model– Shi’ism & Council of Guardians

• Colonel Reza Khan 1921, 25-41• Mossadeq & the coup of 1953• Muhammad Reza 1941-1979

“the people and their uncoerced [sic] consent became the basis of legitimacy. Regardless of the extent of its realization, this proved to be the most far-reaching,

emblematic, and resonating legacy of the Constitutional Revolution . . . becoming a canonical principle difficult to

ignore” – Fakhreddin Azimi

Islamic Revolution• Family Protection Act, White

Revolution, & Resurgence Party• Bloody Friday (1978) & general

strike• Ayatollah Ruhollah Komeini

– Mostazafin (the dispossessed)– Velayat-e faqih (guardianship of

the juriconsult)

• “Ayatollah” Ali Khomenei– “Theory of terror”– Commander in Chief

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

Khordad Revolution

• 1997 Presidential election – Sayyid Muhammad Khatami

• 2000 elections for the 6th Majles• 2001 reelection, despite

frustration• 2004 elections for the 7th Majles• 2005 elections of Mahmoud

Ahmedinejad– Islamic populism– “Outsider” appeal

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

Youth in Iran• Unrest and Protest at Tehran

University• Double lives• Influence of modern communication

technology• artistic expression

– Offside by Jafar Panahi in 2005 (inspired by his daughter in 2002)

– Persepolis movie by Marjane Satrapie & Vincent Paronnaud in 2007 (based on her graphic novel, which chronicles her growing up through Islamic Revolution)

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

Turkey

The Ottoman Empire

• Bastion of Eastern Independence

• Sufism, mystical variant of Islam

• Brief period of domination, post-WWI

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

Ataturk

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

• Mustafa Kemal, Soldier from Macedonia

• Involved in Revolutionary Movement within the Ottoman army

• Emerged as leader after Turkish War for Independence (1918-23)

• Nationalism, Secularism (laiklik), Modernization, & European integration

“[adoption] of Western legal codes from Germany, Italy, and Switzerland,

together with the Latin alphabet and the Western calendar, Western

holidays, and Western measuring systems”

Justice and Development Party

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

• Roots in outlawed Islamist party

• Won 2/3 of parliamentary seats – Only 34% (with low turnout)– but next largest was only 19 %

• Scandals involving governing coalition had angered electorate

• AKP able to form broad coalition (symbolized by its name)

“Turkey’s Tigers”

• Rising class of entrepreneurs benefiting from globalization and free market principles

• Many are simultaneously religiously and socially conservative

• Influence of economic liberalization is profound

• PBS Wide Angle “Turkey’s Tigers”

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions

In Conclusion . . .

• Neither uniquely submissive nor resistant, but economically motivated

• Accountability & Efficiency• Benefit of Islam’s pre-existing

principle of social justice• Relations with West not

fundamental to adoption of liberalism

Theory

Iran

Turkey

Deductions