A Contribution To The Understanding Of Middle Eastern and Muslim Exceptionalism

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    Abstract

    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

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