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Democracy and Religion: Theoretical and Empirical Observations on the Relationship between Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 33; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13691830701432731

1469-9451

Michael Minkenberg,

American Constitutional Law and Politics

Abstract This paper addresses the issue of the compatibility of Islam and democracy from the angle of empirical democratic theory and in a broad historical and comparative perspective. This includes the argument of, and evidence for, a Christian rooting of modern democracy. On the one hand, recent data and cross-time comparisons confirm that demo cracy's roots are in countries which are culturally shaped by Christianity. Religious traditions and institutions clearly provide constraints and opportunities for liberal democracies and processes of democratisation. Within the Christian tradition, distinctions between Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity and Protestantism (also within Protestantism) matter, and so do different degrees of secularisation or specific patterns of Church–State relations. Religions that contain and prescribe an holistic view of society, especially Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Islam, tend to restrict the emergence and development of liberal democracies, and civil liberties in particular. On the other hand, the inherent 'multi-vocality' and the changes of religious traditions (e.g. Catholicism) which, in themselves, are massively affected by political institutions, already demonstrate that there is nothing deterministic about religion's relationship to democracy. This relation is also shaped by uneven processes of secularisation and by increasing religious diversity within the West. While a first glance at the current world map of religion and democracy seems to confirm Huntington's well-known view that Islam is 'the problem', closer analysis shows, however, that it is not the allegedly problematic relationship between Church and State in Islamic countries or the lack of secularisation in these societies which accounts for the democratic deficit. Rather, the main reasons are found in patriarchal orders, and in geopolitical and regional factors. I suggest that research should focus on the conditions under which an antagonistic relationship between a particular (empirical) religion and democratic principles and practice can be transformed into reconciliation by institutional, doctrinal and attitudinal learning. Such learning is massively stimulated by Muslims living under conditions of functioning liberal democracies 'in the West'. Keywords: IslamReligionsDemocracyInstitutionalDoctrinal and Attitudinal Learning Notes 1. Both authors consider democracy only as a 'method' for the selection of responsive political leadership. 2. The (King James) Holy Bible: Matthew 22: 21: 'Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's'. 3. Whether the North American case of the murder of abortion clinic personnel—in the last 10 years, seven persons have been killed in the US and Canada in the name of religious values—deserves the label of a religiously motivated civil war, requires some clarification. There is sufficient evidence that there is a small and militant group supporting the perpetrators (New York Times, 4 September 2003). 4. A recent example from the US is the case of the Alabama Supreme Court Justice who installed a monument exhibiting the Ten Commandments in the hallway of the Court Building, arguing that this was a reminder of the religious and biblical foundations on which the United States was built. He was ordered to remove the monument but refused to do so. A Federal Court finally suspended him from office, and the monument was removed (see New York Times, 23 August 2003). 5. Brumberg and Diamond point out that Freedom House lists 47 Muslim countries but raise some doubt whether Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Eritrea and Burkina Faso have a Muslim majority (2003: x, fn.1). Additional informationNotes on contributorsMichael MinkenbergMichael Minkenberg is Professor of Political Science at the Europa-Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt