Transcript Islam & Democracy

Islam & Democracy
Islamic Civilization’s Compatibility
with Democratic Governance
“Submission”
 Theory
 Iran
 Turkey
 Deductions
• 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”
The Standard Revised Version
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Iran’s Islamic Revolution
Islamic ideal
Sacred over Secular
Ignores differences
between Shi’a & Sunni
(not to mention Sufi &
other) versions of Islam
 Theory
 Iran
 Turkey
 Deductions
 Theory
 Theory
 Iran
 Iran
 Turkey
 Turkey
 Deductions
 Deductions
Islam as Civilization
• Samuel P. Huntington’s Clash
of Civilizations
• Islam as Civilization
• Humiliation & Resistance
• Islam as holistic guide to life
Civilization as Irrelevant
• Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History
• Liberalism is a rational & universal truth
 Theory
 Iran
• G. W. F. Hegel’s “struggle for
 Turkey
recognition”
 Deductions
“Liberal democracy replaces the irrational
desire to be recognized as greater than
others with a rational desire to be
recognized as equal.”
The Importance of Civil Society
 Theory
 Iran
 Turkey
• Robert Putnam’s Making Democracy
Work
• Social capital
 Deductions
• Robert Hefner applies this to Islamic
societies
• Ulama as fluid and fractious
• Democracy needs Islamic justification
for legitimacy
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
 Theory
 Iran
 Turkey
 Deductions
• 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
Khordad Revolution
 Theory
 Iran
 Turkey
 Deductions
• 1997 Presidential election
– Sayyid Muhammad Khatami
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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
Youth in Iran
• Unrest and Protest at Tehran University
 Theory
• Double lives
 Iran
• Influence of modern communication
 Turkey
technology
 Deductions
• 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)
Turkey
The Ottoman Empire
 Theory
 Iran
 Turkey
 Deductions
• Bastion of Eastern
Independence
• Sufism, mystical
variant of Islam
• Brief period of
domination, postWWI
Ataturk
• Mustafa Kemal, Soldier from Macedonia
• Involved in Revolutionary Movement within
the Ottoman army
 Theory
• Emerged as leader after Turkish War for
 Iran
Independence (1918-23)
 Turkey
• Nationalism, Secularism (laiklik),
 Deductions
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”
 Theory
 Iran
 Turkey
 Deductions
• 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”
In Conclusion . . .
 Theory
 Iran
 Turkey
 Deductions
• 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