A Contribution To The Understanding Of Middle Eastern and Muslim Exceptionalism

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

The democratic deficit in the Middle East and the Muslim world is well-established. No study has, however, identified what it is about being a Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority country that impedes democracy. The explanatory deficit has given rise to an idea of Middle Eastern or Muslimexceptionalism. This article documents that when political and colonial history is accounted for, there is nothing exceptional about levels of democracy in these regions. Territories with comparatively developed precolonial state institutions were better able to resist European colonization and settlement. If they were colonized, territories with more developed state structures were more likely to experience an indirect form of colonial rule. Such territories, including the Islamic heartland in the Middle East, experienced less European settlement and colonial rule through local intermediaries and were therefore, in the long run, less likely to embark on a democratic regime trajectory.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer13
TidsskriftJournal of Politics
Vol/bind77
Udgave nummer2
Sider (fra-til)477-490
Antal sider13
ISSN0022-3816
DOI
StatusUdgivet - apr. 2015

ID: 44842600