Western-style Democracy and non-Western religions - the case of Islam

Résumé du document

Is Western-style democracy compatible with non-Western religions? Discuss primarily the question of the Islamic religion. Although the suggestion that certain religious traditions are more suitable for democracy, came under increasing debates from the early 1980s onwards, scholars, like Huntington, state a link between spread of democracy and religion. Thus, in his book 'Democratisation's third wave', Huntington starts by noting the ongoing relationship between democracy and Protestantism, quoting a 1960s study which suggested that in 91 countries studied, the greater the proportion of protestants the higher the level of democracy. In the same way, he links the catholic tradition with the democratic transition from the mid 1970s to the early 1990s, since around three-quarters of the countries had a predominantly catholic tradition. So, according to Huntington, western Christianity is a crucial element for the implementation of democracy. Then, in his later 'Clash of Civilizations', Huntington tackles the question of the compatibility of democracy with some non-Western religions. He argues that 'democracy might have reached its civilizational limits, and seeing Islam in particular, has provided infertile ground for the development of democratic institutions'. So what is stated is that, if Western religions are suitable for democracy, non-Western are not.

Extraits

[...] Yet if majorities and minorities are taken to be permanent and fixed quantities, politics is likely to reflect the force of the numbers and turn ethnic communities into minorities that cannot enjoy actual equality within the political system (Ayubi, 1997:353). Then concerning the position of women, one can say that does not fall wholly within the theme of democracy, but a few passages in this connection would be in order. In its modern, individualistic Western form, democracy assumes formal equality in right, regardless of most differences including those of gender. [...]

[...] religion and democratization, Democratization n°11(4). Nazih N. Ayubi “Islam and democracy”, in D. Potter and alii Democratization, Polity press: Oxford, pp. 345-365. Anouchiravan Ehteshami Islam, Muslim polities and democracy, Democratization n°11(4). John L. Esposito and John O. Voll Islam and Democracy, Oxford University press, pp. [...]

[...] In theory, Buddhism rejects hierarchy and promotes ideas of equality. However the Thai State has manipulated Buddhism in a sense of deep conservatist Buddhist order in order to subordinate citizens, employing an officially sanctioned form of religion to provide a source of legitimacy (McCargo, 2004:1). Therefore it is interesting to analyse the regimes of countries with dominant Muslims population to see practically the compatibility of Islamic religious and democracy. One can first look at some countries that are taken to be Islamic states to see how democratic or undemocratic they are. [...]

[...] Furthermore, such a concept provides the idea of accountable authority. Finally, such doctrines as ijtihad and ijma form central planks of the faith and help in the bolstering of consultation (Ehteshami, 2004:3). So different Islamic concepts exist, which could facilitate the process of democratisation in Muslim countries since they are compatible with democracy. Yet some other points in the Islamic religion can be presented as less compatible with democracy. Thus one can analyse the question of opposition in the Islamic heritage. [...]

[...] The authority of the khalifah is bestowed on the entire group of people, the community as a whole, which is ready to fulfil the conditions of representation after subscribing to the principles of thawid Such a society carries the responsibility of the khalifah as a whole and each one of its individuals shares the divine khalifah. This is the point where democracy begins in Islam. Every person in an Islamic society enjoys the rights and powers of the khalifah of God and in this respect all individuals are equal” (Esposito and Voll citing Mawdudi, 1996:26). So finally these concepts can lead to the idea of popular sovereignty and equality of human beings. It represents important perspectives in the context of democratisation. [...]