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- Title
Determining Democracy in the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
- Authors
Calfano, Brian Robert; Sahliyeh, Emile
- Abstract
Objectives. We determine the conditions that account for change in the realized level of political rights and civil liberties within the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Methods. We use ordered logit to assess the impact of religious pluralism and fragmentation and related controls on changes in Freedom House Political Rights and Civil Liberties scores at five-year intervals between 1976 and 2004. Results. Findings suggest that the presence of non-Islamic religious groups within OIC states leads to an increase in political rights, while the presence of Islamic groups practicing a version of the faith not officially recognized by the state reduced political rights and civil liberties. Conclusions. Islam's influence on democratization does not fall neatly into either the “pro” or “con” categories that have so strongly defined the relevant literature. Islam's influence is, instead, variable and contingent on the wider degree of religious characteristics within each state.
- Subjects
EUROPE; POLITICAL rights; ORGANISATION of Islamic Conference; FREEDOM House Inc.; DEMOCRACY; ISLAM
- Publication
Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 2008, Vol 89, Issue 3, p751
- ISSN
0038-4941
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1540-6237.2008.00558.x