Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
4-2010
Abstract
Islamic parties have won parliamentary elections in several countries in recent years, leading some observers to speculate that Muslims vote Islamic whenever they are given the chance. However, a review of every parliamentary election in Muslim societies over the past 40 years shows that Islamic parties often compete and rarely win—and the freer the election, the worse these parties perform. In addition, an unprecedented collection of Islamic party platforms shows that Islamic parties have transformed since the 1980s, publicly endorsing democracy and women's rights and de-emphasizing shari'a and jihad. This record suggests that Islamic parties have embraced elections more than engulfing them.
Keywords
Elections, Muslims, Islamic states
Discipline
Asian Studies | Islamic World and Near East History | Political Science
Research Areas
Sociology
Publication
Journal of Democracy
Volume
21
Issue
2
First Page
50
Last Page
63
ISSN
1045-5736
Identifier
10.1353/jod.0.0163
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press
Citation
KURZMAN, Charles, & NAQVI, Ijlal.(2010). Do Muslims Vote Islamic?. Journal of Democracy, 21(2), 50-63.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1099
Copyright Owner and License
Publisher
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.0.0163
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Political Science Commons