Is There Muslim Exceptionalism in Democracy Research?
Research output: Contribution to conference › Conference abstract for conference › Research › peer-review
Standard
Is There Muslim Exceptionalism in Democracy Research? / Hariri, Jacob Gerner.
2011. Abstract from CVAP Conference June 2011, Nordic Voter.Research output: Contribution to conference › Conference abstract for conference › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - ABST
T1 - Is There Muslim Exceptionalism in Democracy Research?
AU - Hariri, Jacob Gerner
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Casual observation suggests a negative association between Islam and democratic rule, as very few Muslim countries can be considered democracies. Recent research has conrmed this observation by documenting that the negative association is robust to dierent democracy indices, different samples, and, also, to alternative theories of the causes and correlates of democracy. This paper presents evidence against the notion of Muslim exceptionalism in democracy research. Thus, outside the European continent, territories that were governed earlier and more consistently by state organizations up to and between the 16th and 18th centuries are relatively less democratic today. The negative effect of early statehood on current levels of democracy is mediated by European colonization and settlement: Europeans were less likely to colonize and settle in territories with more developed state institutions and were therefore less likely to bring nascent legalistic and representative institutions to these territories. When we remove the autocratic legacy of early statehood and the influence of European settlement, there is nothing signicantly negative about the degree of democracy in Muslim-majority countries.
AB - Casual observation suggests a negative association between Islam and democratic rule, as very few Muslim countries can be considered democracies. Recent research has conrmed this observation by documenting that the negative association is robust to dierent democracy indices, different samples, and, also, to alternative theories of the causes and correlates of democracy. This paper presents evidence against the notion of Muslim exceptionalism in democracy research. Thus, outside the European continent, territories that were governed earlier and more consistently by state organizations up to and between the 16th and 18th centuries are relatively less democratic today. The negative effect of early statehood on current levels of democracy is mediated by European colonization and settlement: Europeans were less likely to colonize and settle in territories with more developed state institutions and were therefore less likely to bring nascent legalistic and representative institutions to these territories. When we remove the autocratic legacy of early statehood and the influence of European settlement, there is nothing signicantly negative about the degree of democracy in Muslim-majority countries.
M3 - Conference abstract for conference
Y2 - 6 June 2011 through 8 June 2011
ER -
ID: 33639967