Arab, not muslim, exceptionalism

Journal of Democracy

Volumn 15, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 140-146

  Stepan, Alfred ^a   Robertson, Graeme B ^b  

^a Columbia University ^*  (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 7544248479     PISSN: 10455736     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jod.2004.0067     Document Type: Review

References (6)

1. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, "Reviving Middle Eastern Liberalism," Journal of Democracy 14 (October 2003): 9.
2. Adam Przeworski et al., conclude that after controlling for levels of economic development "neither Protestantism nor Islam seems to have an effect on the emergence or the durability of democracy." Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World (New York: Cambridge university Press, 2000), 126. For a longer discussion of our classification of over- and underachievement, see pp. 33-36 in our original July 2003 article.
3. Our July 2003 essay focused on a distinction between Muslim-majority states that are predominantly Arab and those that are not. Lakoff correctly states that some countries, such as Sudan, do not have Arab majorities, but are members of the Arab League. Adopting Arab League membership (rather than a demographic Arab majority) as the standard actually strengthens our findings: None of the five countries (Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia, and Sudan) that lacks an Arab majority but belongs to the Arab League is currently an electorally competitive polity.
4. For a discussion of multivocality in other religions as well as Islam, and more on Muslim politicians who back tolerance and pluralism, see Alfred Stepan, "The World's Religious Systems and Democracy: Grafting the 'Twin Tolerations,'" Arguing Comparative Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 213-53.
5. Four Arab League members - Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, and Lebanon - also belong to the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
6. See www.un.org/depts/dpa/ead/assistance_by_country/ea_assistance.htm.